2022 - End of year review 

"Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome" Arthur Ashe

These immortal words by tennis great Arthur Ashe certainly resonate with the students of the Keilor Downs College Soccer School. This year we had Premier League Cup titles, unprecedented individual honours, and many moments that will remain woven in the rich tapestry of the school as we closed the curtain on a most eventful 2022 school year.  

The year began with our appointment of new coaches Toan Le and Matt Kiriakopoulos, who joined existing coaches Adam Hrehoresin, Sarah Lorca, Sebastian Randello, and Phillip Lesar, and later we welcomed new strength and conditioning coach Khaled Abdo to the team. 2022 also bought to life our new Development Phase concept, which saw our after-school sessions grouped according to their current level with sessions that were tailored to the individual development of all players, and we saw a real shift in engagement of all students that understood that development is a non-linear process. 

Off-field, we completed major groundworks in April to improve the surface of our pitch and added a new four-tier mini grandstand for spectators to watch future matches that are held at Keilor Downs College, and added two new sets of small goals for small-sided games and training sessions.

Term one also saw the triumph against all odds of our senior boys' team in the School Sports Victoria Premier League Cup final. To put it in perspective, all of the previous winners of this prestigious competition were shared between powerhouse sports specialist schools, Rowville and Maribyrnong. That our boys were able to navigate the group stage with two wins and a draw, and then progress to the final at ADB Stadium was phenomenal and now raises the bar once more for the 2023 girls and boys that will represent the school in this tournament. 

Amongst the on-field successes were the Keilor division triumphs of our year 7 boys, year 8 boys, and year 8 girls, as well as the historic win in the Springside West Cup, which saw for the first time two KDC sides -one year 9 squad and one year 10 squad - win their respective groups to progress to a grand final against each other. 

The year 10 boys triumphed on this occasion, but the real winner was the future of our program, which has a healthy backlog of talent that will compete for spots in future Premier League Cup squads.

Individually, we saw the selection of 16-year-old goalkeeper Michael Vonja for the Australian Joeys (under 17) national team for World Cup qualifiers, as well as earning a contract at Western United. Michael was also rewarded for his dedication to the program with the inaugural Michael Vonja Medal, which will be presented annually to the most consistent goalkeeper in our program. 

We also had the great pleasure of presenting year 11 student Robbie Farquharson with our highest individual honour, the Sarah Lorca Medal, for his performances on and off the field, as well as his help in guiding the next generation of KDC Soccer School students with his leadership skills. Robbie was presented his medal by Sarah Lorca and 2021 winner and outgoing captain, Octavio Montalvo.

While we welcomed 29 new students to the year 7 2023 intake of the KDC Soccer School, we also farewelled our year 12 students Chamika Amarasekara, Thomas Daskalovski, Alex Yemettas, Steven Huynh, Anton Blaszkowski, Ajdin Sabanoski, Brayden Traversa, Mo Miri, and Octavio Montalvo, who graduated year 12 last week and have left their mark on our program with their tenacity, desire to improve and passion for the game.

Lastly, we finished the year with year 11 student Mohamed Teffaha returning from a tour of Lebanon with an Australian-Lebanese select squad, where he played 12 matches in two weeks against several under-20 teams and he produced consistent performances throughout the tour.

Next year, we will continue our growth with our highest-ever number of students (151), coaches, and a continual search for marginal gains in training and learning that will produce long-term success. The score will indeed continue to take care of itself if we push each other to chase perfection.