Club may fold as Cup fever cools

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE final whistle looms for kids at a 40-year-old Springvale soccer club unless it can find more players in coming months.
If South Springvale Soccer Club’s junior teams fold then the club will lose a pool of junior talent for future senior teams.
The club this week appealed for new junior players after suffering a sudden drop from 18 teams to two in just over five years.
Junior coordinator and club secretary Mario Constantinou said he could not understand why the club was struggling to find juniors while neighbouring clubs were jam-packed with teams.
“We always look after the young kids, whatever they need we give them,” he said.
“After each game the get a free meal such as a sausage sizzle and upon membership they get offered free socks and shorts which not many other clubs offer.”
Mr Constantinou said several new junior clubs had started in the area, and that may have sapped potential players.
The World Cup windfall that boosted the sport’s profile has failed to bolster numbers at South Springvale.
Mr Constantinou said unless more kids joined before this summer’s season the junior club would have to consider folding.
“The worst-case scenario is that we will shut down because it’s a big, expensive club to run with just two teams,” he said.
“We have got a major ground (Warner Reserve) that we hardly use because we’ve got only two teams.”
Mr Constantinou said the seniors would lose talent that would go to other clubs if South Springvale folded.
He said the club needed at least seven teams for its next season to make enough money to cover costs.
“We have got to pay maintenance, got to pay for people working there,” he said.
Mr Constantinou said fees from just two teams and other small incomes were not enough to cover the junior club’s cost.
“When one team is playing at home we have a canteen, but one team playing does not allow it to make enough money for the club,” he said.
Mr Constantinou said membership fees were among the cheapest at $230 per child per season, which included a pair of shorts and socks.
Springvale North Ward councillor Alan Gordon said the council would help the club acquire state funding to improve facilities such as spectator shelters, training lights and other items.
Anyone wanting to join the club or find out more information can call Mario Constantinou on 0402 428 779.