Posted by Chris Anderson in
Papers & Speeches, Parliament, Sport
Wednesday, September 10. 2008

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) — This Friday I will be attending the presentation night for the Brunswick Zebras junior soccer club, the largest soccer club in my electorate and certainly the largest soccer club in the Moreland area. It is a big occasion for a really successful junior soccer club. It was founded in 1947, when Italian immigrants founded the Juventus club. However, over time the club broke away from the senior club and specialised in juniors — and it is increasingly focusing on girls and women.
It is a very large club providing an opportunity for local girls and women to play, and it has been growing exponentially. It has been growing rapidly in recent years and has over 500 registered players at the moment. It has moved from using one ground, Sumner Park, to using four grounds, three in the City of Moreland and one in the City of Melbourne.
It could do with even more grounds. More grounds would create even more opportunities for local children to play soccer in the area. It is a club that really prides itself on having kids from all backgrounds, ethnicities and social classes, with over 30 teams.
I would like to thank John Luca, Carole Fabian, Rudy Pilatto, Terrance Bergagna and the other members of the committee and all of the volunteers who make this such a great junior institution for the northern suburbs. It is a great club, a progressive club, a multicultural club, a club that really services both junior boys and girls.