The Greek team began their campaign in the annual All Nations Cup this week meeting rivals Afghanistan on Tuesday ending in a 0-0 draw.
A concept which began in 1982, the All Nations Cup draws teams that comprise of players representing the country of birth of their parents origin.
The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) decided to enter a Greek team in the competition as part of a broader outreach into the football community with a view to bring together and represent the many players of Greek origin currently playing football in Victoria.
The GCM Vice President Michael Karamitos who has led the project was left impressed with what he has seen so far, saying “I have to say that what started as simply a nostalgic suggestion by some older players has developed into a very exciting project. To see these young men who play throughout the Victorian NPL leagues come together under the expert tutelage of coaches Katsakis and Tangalakis has been a thrill.
GCM president Bill Papastergiadis said “it has been often observed that Plato and Aristotle identified athleticism as an integral part of education, and by reason of that, the development of the human condition.
“With Victoria having potentially over 50 football teams with Greek affiliation, it is logical that the Greek Community of Melbourne would reach out to them to enhance its relationship with the broader community.”
The GCM president wants to develop it further explaining, “the aim is that beyond the GCMs involvement in the formation of a team of players of Greek background in the All Nations Cup, that a new form of the previous Hellenic Cup would be considered for implementation in 2023 that would bring together men and women’s teams and ultimately in further years incorporate a boys and girls competition.”
And beyond football itself Papastergiadis sees the opportunity for teaching Greek, “now that we know that we can offer Greek language classes remotely, we can try and tap into all of these clubs to encourage their players to start a course in Greek”.
Nick Dallas the education conveyor said “the GCM has acquired experience in delivering Greek language courses to different types of student cohorts both online and face to face. Anecdotally we know that many kids involved in sport are generally less likely to pursue language courses. We want to be a bridge in this conversation. Football is multilingual”
Bill Papastergiadis thanked Steve and Harry Tsalikidis, Michael Karamitos, Chris Pavlidis and Kon Kyranakis for their input and sponsorship of the GCM Greek Football Team.
Michael Karamitos expressed appreciation to the coaching team of Katsakis and Tangalakis and said “it’s so good to involve people and players with the GCM who previously were not linked to us. I am hopeful that we can leverage from this to build some of the connections referred to by Nick Dallas.”
