Goulburn Valley Suns’ young guns have put Shepparton on the map in the big smoke.
At the weekend, the club’s junior academy program raced down the Hume Hwy to compete in the Macca’s City Cup, a tournament contested by 299 teams across 688 games.
It’s safe to say the Suns did not come home empty-handed.
Of the 11 teams in orange to make the trek to Melbourne City’s training facility, Cranbourne’s Casey Fields, five reached a final with two Suns sides taking out cup deciders.
The Suns under-13s were one of those sides, coached by pre-NPL technical director David Davkovski, who said the showing at the tournament was a massive step forward for the club.
“Across the board, myself and Billy (GV Suns technical director Billy Marshall) were very pleased,” Davkovski said.
“Not so much about the results, but definitely how we played the game and how we matched it with the big city clubs.
“It’s a real testament to the coaches, to the program, to the children and, of course, the parents.
“It’s a three-hour drive and a lot of the kids hadn’t been exposed to this level of competition.”
Thrust into games against some of Victoria’s strongest factions, the Suns held their own — and then some — in the city soccer mecca.
Davkovski’s under-13s trumped National Premier League powerhouse North Geelong Warriors 2-0 in the cup final, while Tommy Giuliani’s under-11s had the wood over Casey Kings 3-0 to also take home a trophy.
However, the scale of the occasion for all involved Suns teams was as crucial as the results.
Davkovski touched on the importance of Shepparton’s up-and-coming crop of players mixing it at such a high standard.
“It was just good for the kids to get that all-round level of exposure to the competition. It was a super effort,” he said.
“You know what it’s like with Melbourne clubs, they get really good support and it was good to see so many of our parents and supporters there cheering on our kids.
“It was also good to bring back a couple of trophies and start filling up this GV Suns trophy cabinet.”
The Macca’s City Cup was also the GV Suns academy’s first true foray since amalgamating with Shepparton Junior Soccer Association.
Following the 2023 AFS Shepparton Cup, the SJSA program was bled into the Suns as a pre-NPL pathway to offer a more clear-cut road forward for juniors to reach the elite level.
It’s been well supported by local clubs according to Davkovski, who was quick to thank the region’s organisations for standing behind the change.
“(I’d like) to make a special mention to all the local clubs at the moment, because when we sat down at the start of the year, essentially the children who are playing for the GV Suns at the competition are still very much club-based players,” he said.
“It’s super important for us to have that connection with the clubs.
“They’re still playing for the local clubs, but they’re also coming away to us during school holidays and, where possible, to play under the Suns banner.
“That partnership has really given all the local kids in the region a pretty good opportunity to play at a higher level.
“What we put in place at the start of the year, so far, we’re ticking all the boxes we set out to do early doors.”
Davkovski credited the buy-in from players, parents and clubs, labelling the venture as “the best sign we’ve got that we’re going to have a sustainable future for the game in Shepparton for a long time”.
So, what comes next?
While the hallmark tournament on the calendar has been, and still is, the AFS Shepparton Cup, the GV Suns academy eyes off the July-ran Kanga Cup in Canberra as its next chance to impress.
“That’s actually the biggest tournament in Australia of its type, a lot of international clubs (attend),” Davkovski said.
“With the success that we had on the weekend, I think there will be some keen parents that will head up to Canberra and continue the good work that everyone’s doing.”