An annual celebration of all things Shepparton soccer is on once again, with Goulburn Valley Suns taking on Shepparton All-Stars on Tuesday night.
The all-stars are a team made up of some of Shepparton’s brightest soccer talent, with players from Shepparton United, Tatura and Shepparton South, combining to compete for the annual Mimmo Lia Trophy against the Suns.
Suns coach Craig Carley said the game was a good opportunity to bring all the clubs in the region together, celebrate and have a good evening.
“We started this last year as a way of bringing the soccer community together and, obviously, we’re trying to make it a tradition year on year to do that,” Carley said.
“The idea about it is to get the best local players to play against the region’s best-ranked side as such.
“I think it’s recognising all the good work of people in the past, we’re playing for the Mimmo Lia Trophy and Mimmo has done an enormous amount of work for soccer in the region as president at Tatura Soccer Club, so the trophy we play for is obviously in recognition of that sort of stuff to.”
Carley spoke of how a disconnect formed when an NPL licence was given to the region, however, this is starting to shift.
“I think all the clubs now recognise that the NPL is a fantastic pathway for young aspiring players to play at a higher level and it just gives a different option too,” he said.
“I certainly feel that local soccer is going from strength to strength and events such as this all-star game are a fantastic way to celebrate that.”
With the Suns’ pre-season now well and truly in full swing, Carley is looking forward to the season ahead.
“I’m very pleased with where we’re at, I think we’re on track with where we need to be,” he said.
“I’m really happy with where our baseline level fitness is at the moment and we’ve certainly got aspirations to get promoted this year.”
Tatura Soccer Club coach Tristan Zito said he was looking forward to the all-star game, with the representative side given longer to prepare this year.
“It should be good, we’re really excited to get the best players in the region together,” Zito said.
Zito, combined with Shepparton United coach Nathan Sali and Shepparton South coach Rob Harmeston to decide on the all-star team.
The all-stars starting line up is as follows: Daniel Coombs, Thomas Corso, Lewis Coyle, Greg Nash, Jamie De Smit, Qader Karimi, Thomas Leech, Ermal Maku, Cody Sellwood, Mohammad Al-Gazaly and Sean Grant.
They will be supported by a full complement of substitutes with Will Keenan, Tim Lardner, Cooper Gosstray, Justin Cirillo and Joe Worrall on the bench.
Zito will be joined by Coyle as coach.
The Mimmo Lia Cup will take place on Tuesday, March 8, 7.30pm at McEwen Reserve, Shepparton, with entry a gold coin donation.