Dandenong North resident Kliment Taseski, 15, chases Melbourne Victory star Fred in a full-scale practice match in the lead-up to Victory’s A-League championship win last week.JUST days before Melbourne Victory won the A-League soccer grand final against Adelaide United, two Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) soccer scholarship holders from Dandenong North had a rare opportunity to play against what would soon be the premiership team.
And the practice obviously made perfect, with Victory scoring a sensational 6-0 win over United on Sunday.
Alex Tabor and Kliment Taseski, both 15, along with four other scholarship holders in the VIS program, were picked as part of a combined team to play a full-strength Victory side for match practice at Olympic Park last Thursday.
The six VIS athletes were joined by Melbourne’s remaining squad members pushing for selection in the starting 11. Tabor and Taseski had the arduous task of minding the likes of A-League stars Archie Thompson, Kevin Muscat and Fred, but were not overawed by the occasion.
The group also took the opportunity to meet Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick, a former coach at the VIS.
The match was part of the VIS squad’s lead-up to its debut in the Victorian Premier League (VPL) under 21 competition next week.
Joining Tabor and Taseski as the VIS looks to beat Richmond in the opening round on Friday, 2 March will be Keysborough’s Koray Kurk.
The team will play in the curtain-raiser to VPL senior matches involving a team from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which is also joining Football Federation Victoria (FFV) ranks for the first time.
The 20-player VIS squad includes some of the best teenage talent in Victoria hand-picked by head coach Ian Greener and assistant Mehmet Durakovic.
The VIS was highly influential in providing the make-up of Melbourne Victory’s championship-winning team, with nine members of the 2006-07 squad former members of the institute.
“The VIS has a wonderful record of producing fine young soccer players who have gone on to play at the highest level in the world game, including Vince Grella, Josh Kennedy and Scott MacDonald,” Greener said. “The current crop of young scholarship holders is our youngest ever.
“The opportunity to play in the under 21 FFV Premier League competition will be both challenging but enormously helpful in the development of these 14 and 15 year olds as they look towards their Victory role models for further guidance to their future pathway both domestically and internationally.”
FFV acting chief executive George Angelopoulos said the league was looking forward to welcoming the VIS in 2007.
“It’s a move that generates fresh interest in our flagship competition among our existing clubs members and fans and potential new supporters of the game who may not have experienced VPL football before,” he said.
