A new soccer club aimed at bridging the gap between social and maintstream competition for young immigrants is kicking goals.
The Brimbank Community Soccer Hub has brought together a number of teens who have been playing soccer on a casual basis to give players a chance to operate and compete in their own sports club.
Many of the young men involved, who have recently migrated to Australia from South Sudan, Burma, Iran and East Africa, have so far been unable to access mainstream competitions and facilities.
The club is already starting to field teams to play competitively but will maintain its open-door approach for young men who want to train or play casually.
Football Federation Victoria (FFV) chief executive Peter Gome has praised the project.
“The Brimbank hub has been a great success in bridging the gap between purely social and mainstream competitions which has in the past been a challenge for some of our emerging communities,” Gome said.
“It has also helped its members gain an insight into running a sports club so they’ll be well placed to play in more formal FFV competitions in future.”
The hub is a joint initiative of Brimbank council and Victoria University. VU researcher Alison Baker is conducting a study of the hub’s success and says she is documenting and exploring how to make sport, particularly soccer, more accessible for young men and women who have recently settled in Australia.
