Under 12 vindication

Local junior soccer was put on the map last weekend, when Wangaratta City FC’s under 12 boys soccer team took out the prestigious Shepparton Cup with a flawless run through the competition. Held over the weekend of 24-25 October, the Shepparton Cup is Australia’s largest junior football tournament, bringing together over 350 teams and 4500 players from across the state and country, from all levels of competition. The Devils entered the under 12 competition, which featured 24 teams drawn into six groups of four. Wangaratta entered the tournament in Group A alongside Cobram JSA, Altona City and Shepparton South FC, with their first group match against Cobram on Saturday morning. Eager to start the tournament on a high note, the Devils produced a stunning 2-1 win, before knocking over Altona City 3-1 and Shepparton South 2-0 to secure the top spot in Group A and qualify for the quarter finals. The finals were all played on the Sunday, and the Devils’ first opponents were Berwick City Tigers, who had won through at the top of Group D. However, Wangaratta were the far better side, winning 2-0 to keep the dream alive. The Devils were then up against Newport Storm FC Benzema in the semi-finals, a team who had won in group F and scored the most goals per game and goals overall in the tournament, setting a challenge for Wangaratta’s defence. The structure held firm in the cold and wet conditions and Wangaratta were punishing on the counterattack, keeping a clean sheet and winning through to the cup final with a 3-0 result. The Devils’ final challenge was Kyneton District FC, and the match was a thriller, with Wangaratta pushed but holding firm to sit 2-2 at the end of regular time, sending the decider to penalties. Fortunately for the local lads, they held their nerve to win a dramatic shootout and the silverware. Goalkeeper Hayden Butera proved the difference, making a save while the Devils didn’t miss a single shot. Coach of the team, Pat Arcuri, said he was incredibly proud of his players. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a Wangaratta team has won the prestigious Shepparton Cup,” he said. “We’re absolutely stoked, it’s a huge tournament, there are even teams who come from New Zealand. “Wangaratta or teams in the Albury Wodonga Football Association have never won it.” Arcuri said they had been training for over a month for the tournament, continuing on even after losing their semi-final during the Albury Wodonga Football Association season. “It’s just a really great feeling, but it was hard work - this team had lost 3-2 in the preliminary final in the Albury Wodonga league,” he said. “The season finished in September and the tournament was in late October, so we trained for a solid month, we did a lot of ball work but also strength and speed training, and that paid dividends in the games.” It’s a remarkable achievement, and a sign soccer is thriving in Wangaratta. “Berwick City had assistant coaches, a warmup coach, professional Adidas or Nike kits, they’ve got good programs, but every single one of the coaches we played against came up to me asking what program we use and how we’d gotten them to this level,” Arcuri said. “It’s amazing a team like Wangaratta can produce really good footballers and play great football. “It’s a good sign for the club moving forward, we’ve got this youth coming through, and we don’t have to have kids go to metro to learn how to play football. “At Galen we ran the Liverpool Football Academy, and a lot of these boys were part of that. “There’s an investment in these young players to play good football and to learn those fundamental skills at an early age and then develop off that, with tactical awareness but more importantly just to enjoy the game and play it the way it should be played.”

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