With 52 years of proud history to their name, Austral Soccer Club meld together a focused commitment of playing high level football whilst simultaneously supporting their local community. Experienced Kanga Cup competitors have travelled to the Capital from Sydney again seeking to maintain their reputation as a consistent tournament favourite.
The club have sent down a U12 Shield and U16 Plate side who both usually compete in the Southern Districts Soccer Football Associations (SDSFA) leagues in NSW. The U16 team are playing in their third consecutive tournament after losing to Rouse Hill Rams 1-0 in their grand final last year and 2-0 to Lindfield in 2022.
“The last two years we were in the grand final and this year we are definitely hopeful to win it,” said Marcus Grasso, captain of Austral’s U16 squad.
Grasso’s side have gone unbeaten in their glistening campaign so far this tournament and are confident they can win the Open Plate in their Grand Final matchup against the Dubbo Devils who they beat 2-1 on the competition’s first day.
“It’s been amazing so far, my team’s still undefeated so we have very high hopes to win the Kanga Cup and we’re proud of it,” added Grasso.
Whilst the team has delivered their desired results on the field, the trip to Canberra has also been utilised as an opportunity to strengthen their team bond and connection. The team’s unity can be largely credited for assisting them with the immense performances produced so far.
“It’s an amazing feeling just having all the boys together with me for the whole week and I feel a lot closer with them,” stated Grasso. “The games are really an addition to the Kanga Cup as it’s such a great experience off the field as well.”
“The big motivation is the chemistry with the other boys and also being able to hopefully say we are Kanga Cup winners,” Grasso commented.
“It helps so much just being able to stay the night with all the boys talking, having fun and when we’re going onto the field, and you can just tell the connection that’s there because of the Kanga Cup experience.”
Austral are a club that pride themselves on maintaining a positive and encouraging culture for everybody involved whilst also ensuring they stay competitive and apply a strong commitment towards youth development.
“There’s an amazing feeling here, everybody’s positive and we have all the board and committee members here supporting us,” expressed Grasso. “I feel people cheering me on, cheering my name, cheering all the boys and it really helps because everyone boosts with that.”
“We’re really well connected, our younger team that’s here is also undefeated so far and we also have many different youth teams back home.”
With these exceptional tournament results so far, the club is becoming increasingly hopeful of expanding their name and reputation throughout all their teams and age groups.
“The club hasn’t been very well known for a while, but we’re slow making it bigger and I just want us to build up and become more recognisable because it deserves to be,” claimed Grasso. “I want to stay here, I want to win State Cup and I want to win Australia Cup when I’m older, I want to win everything I play in to be honest.”
Grasso will lead his side into their third straight Kanga Cup Grand Final in which they’ll hope to finally be victorious.
Words: William Rumgay
