Strikers time, at last

By Paul Pickering
KICK-OFF has finally arrived for the Bunyip and District Strikers.
The town’s first soccer club will make its long-awaited debut in the Football Federation Victoria competition this weekend, some 18 months after the club was formally conceived.
It is the world game’s first foray into the traditional Aussie Rules stronghold, with four junior teams and a senior side – the first in the Cardinia Shire – taking the field this Sunday.
Fittingly, it will be the fledgling club’s youngest team, the under-9s, who open festivities with their 9am clash against Oakleigh at Bunyip Recreation Reserve.
Under-12 and Under-14 fixtures will follow, while the senior men hit the road to face Old Brighton Grammarians in the FFV’s Thirds League Division Five South-East competition.
Strikers president Tony Arrigo, who has driven the concept since mid-2008, said Sunday would be a historic moment for Bunyip.
“I’m over the moon,” Arrigo said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s been worth the effort.”
Arrigo, who grew up playing soccer in Italy before migrating in 1962, said he had been overwhelmed by the support of the local community, which has allowed his long-held dream of bringing the round-ball game to Bunyip.
Strikers senior coaches Craig Marks and Mark Wood share Arrigo’s enthusiasm for the concept.
The English-born mates, who met a few years ago through their involvement with the Drouin Dragons, can hardly believe their luck at being asked to mould a club from scratch.
“It’s a boyhood dream for Mark and I,” Marks said this week.
“For us, growing up in England, you always join a club, but now we’re lucky enough to start a club.”
As Marks notes, the Strikers weren’t even anticipating that the club would field a senior team in its first season.
“It was always going to be a junior club, then all of a sudden we started getting interest from adults,” he says.
“We didn’t know what we were getting until the first couple of training sessions, so we were lucky that most of the guys had played the game in the past and decided to return to it.”
The Strikers have some gifted young hometown players, but Marks expects a trio of Brazilian imports – former colleagues of his at the abattoirs in Pakenham – to provide a lot of entertainment this season.
He believes the experienced international trio will complement an enthusiastic bunch of players from around the region.
“Judging from pre-season form, I think we’re going to be very competitive,” he said.
The senior side will make its first home appearance against Bentleigh on Sunday 25 April.
The club now has more than 70 registered players, at least 50 of whom are juniors.
Sunday will be a big day for all of them, but also the dedicated committee that has steered the club towards its competitive launch.
The Strikers committee consists of Arrigo, Marks, Wood, Rob Chilinski, Roman Kulkewycz, Alan Cole, Carmelina Arrigo, Dr Mary Cole, Adrian Gatti, Dale Pronk, Justin Oakes and Shaun Hudgell.