Melbourne Victory School of Football Primary School Gala Day

On Thursday, 26th July, students from the Melbourne Victory School of Football organised, officiated and marshalled a hugely successful Primary School Gala day for over 300 Grade 5 & 6 students from seven primary schools across Merri-bek’s north. The 7-a-side competition incorporated 12 girls’ teams and 20 mixed teams.

Melbourne Victory was represented at the Gala day by Harley Hamdani (Education Pathways Manager), Kate Bennett (Football Centre Lead) and Luke Hannah (Pathways Coach and School of Football Lead at John Fawkner College).

The Gala Day welcomed many spectators to CB Smith Reserve, including parents and families, representatives from the Merri-bek Council, the Fawkner Soccer Club, and the State MP for Broadmeadows, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, who contributed prizes for participating schools. The seven primary schools represented were:

Fawkner Primary School, Fawkner
St Matthew's Primary School, Fawkner
Moomba Park Primary School, Fawkner
Merri-bek Primary School, Coburg
Pascoe Vale North Primary School, Pascoe Vale
Westbreen Primary School, Pascoe Vale
St Thomas More Primary School, Hadfield

Melbourne Victory School of Football students were excited to welcome a large number of primary schools to participate in their program and thoroughly enjoyed supporting the younger students. They reflected that their experience with Melbourne Victory had taught them skills that go well beyond kicking the ball. Organising the day, planning timing and logistics for the matches, and learning how to coordinate and officiate all provided skills that they will use in the future.

The Melbourne Victory School of Football at John Fawkner College is one of the initiatives supported under the Merri-bek North Education Plan as part of the aim to provide every student with broad and engaging learning experiences.

Ms Zoe Slatter, MV Coordinator at JFC

‘….It brings us enormous pride to see our students enjoying being a part of MV and challenging themselves with all aspects of the program. On the day, they excelled: they were confident, receptive to the young students, showed great camaraderie with each other, were respectful, and were excellent role models for the primary school students. We couldn’t be more proud.

We are endlessly grateful to MV for coming into the school and showing our community what is possible through commitment, hard work and a willingness to be part of a great team. We thank all the players and coaches of MV and also the MNEP and DET for supporting us in this rich and positive program.

Dr Lisa Vinnicombe, Principal

John Fawkner College Newsletter

Respect, Commitment, Continuous Improvement and Academic Excellence

Issue 3 · 04 Jul 2025

In this issue