THE Shepparton United Soccer Club will launch into the 2021 season with a completely new board with a view to start a new era for the club.
New president, Nathan Sali, has taken over the reins from long-time club stalwart, Mark Georgiou, and says his goal is to get the community more involved in local sport.
“When I was a kid and came down to watch football on the weekends, there’d be 500 people here. More recently, it’s more like 50, and it’s good football!” he said.
Sali describes last year’s lockdown-affected season as a ‘leap year.’ Now, with players coming back after a whole year off, he said there’s a lot of ground to be made up, and not just in terms of players’ fitness.
The club has appointed Hussein Sumaili as the head coach for the men’s Division 1 team, and Gabby Dwyer will lead the hugely successful women’s team, which has already bagged six premierships.
“To come in with a brand-new committee, we’re pretty much starting from scratch and working our way up to the top again,” Sali said.
Reviving local sport, getting sponsors on board and crowds to matches are all Sali’s priorities as the new president.
Senior BASL competition kicks off on April 11.
