STAWELL Pioneers Soccer Club's new recruits will be in the spotlight on Sunday as the club hosts its annual seven-a-side tournament.
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Playing the round-robin event at North Park, the club was eager to put the 'hard work' undergone in the offseason to work.
The committee was elected at the recent annual general meeting.
Jason Oosthuizen elected once again as president.
Mr Oosthuizen said he was excited for the Stawell community to get a glimpse of some new players at the club this weekend.
"This year has been really hard due to COVID-19 but we've worked really hard to ensure we have met the criteria to be able to train for both the senior and junior players when we could," he said.
"This has allowed us to welcome in some recruits from the season including some Solomon Islanders and Vanuatuans who are living here for work. It's really exciting to watch them play. Soccer is their number one sport in their country so their skills are impressive."
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On Sunday, the club is looking at the possibility of having two or three teams representing Stawell.
"We are still getting numbers together for the tournament but we've had fantastic numbers at training so far this season," he said.
"So much, we are also looking at possibly entering in another team in the league for next year.
"It's a boost for soccer in Stawell. The players are bringing a new level of energy and enthusiasm to the club."
Club development officer Rob Lembo said the action would commence at about 10am on Sunday.
"We've got teams interested in entering from Creswick, Warrnambool, Horsham and Hamilton," he said.
"Junior players are also expected to participate in an intra-club match on Sunday, but are open to a competition game if confirmed by interested clubs."
Mr Oosthuizen said the idea of possibly entering two teams into a competition in 2021 was hard to believe from where the club started from just over two years ago.
"It was just a dream that we worked really hard to become reality," he said.
"After one season, where I think we were quite successful to a year off with covid and now talking about entering two teams - it's really something that I wouldn't have thought possible.
"The committee has all worked really hard as a team together to achieve this. I'm really proud of what we have made."
Mr Oosthuizen said the committee had discussed the possibility of helping some interested people in Ararat form its own club.
"It makes sense if there are enough people to get a club up and running then more localised teams would make the travelling for us easier," he said.
"We could also play more friendly matches between the two towns as well.
"We're looking for any interested people to get in contact and we can help them work through everything we have in the past two years."
Mr Oosthuizen said anyone interested in joining the Pioneers or helping to start a club in Ararat could contact him on 0455 746 642.
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