Geelong to send a record 180 players and 12 teams to the annual Country Championships

Ange Postecoglou signing with Tottenham Hotspur is one of Australia’s greatest sporting stories as women’s soccer in Geelong is set for a further “boom”, a former Socceroo says.

Former Socceroos and Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou signing a four-year managerial deal with Tottenham Hotspur is one of Australia’s great sporting stories, ex-national representative Steve Horvat believes.

Horvat, talking to this publication ahead of the annual Country Championships in Ballarat this long weekend where Geelong will send a record number of 180 junior players across 12 teams, said it showed Aussie coaches were finally being recognised at the elite level.

“If you look at it on a global scale, it’s one of the biggest sporting stories ever in this country,” Horvat said, who attended Geelong College in the early to mid 1980s.

“This is a great evolution in Australian football.

“Our coaches are now getting recognised. It’s Kevin Muscat doing great things in Japan.

“There’s a lot of coaches out there making their mark.

“Our coaching side of the game probably didn’t get the respect it deserved.”

Former Socceroo Steve Horvat is expecting more women and girls to take up the sport in the Geelong region. Picture: Mark Wilson

Meanwhile, Horvat said the country champs was a “great opportunity” for young players to showcase their skills, having played in a similar concept in his younger days before progressing to state representation at a junior level.

His message to the young local players this weekend was to compete as if everybody was watching, recalling how he was randomly spotted by an Australian Institute of Sport coach as a teenager.

“You never know who is watching you or where they are watching you,” he said.

“It may be on windy, rainy Wednesday night at training or at a coaches course, which is where I was identified to be offered a scholarship to the AIS.

“Things can change pretty quickly.

“It’s great to have competitive tournament football at various levels, which is exactly what the country champs offers.”

With approximately 5500 adults and children in total playing the sport in the region, and the success of Sam Kerr on the world stage, Horvat was expecting a further “boom” in the women’s game locally.

Horvat encouraged all Geelong footballers to play at the country champs as if everybody is watching. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

“The growth of football in Geelong over the last numbers of years has been probably been one of the biggest growth rates in the state, which is really exciting,” he said.

“You only need to take a Sunday drive around Geelong and take a look at how many young boys and girls are playing the game in fields across the region.

“It’s an exciting time in our game.

“I can only see these numbers growing at an increased rate.”

Around 1400 boys and girls from regional Victoria will travel to Ballarat for the annual champs, with competition running from under-11 to under-18 level.

Geelong Regional Football Committee chair Mike McKinstry said Geelong was sending the highest representation of any regional area for the June 10-12 event.

“(It’s) a record number for us this year,” McKinstry said.

“Soccer is very much alive and well here in Geelong.”

He said a third of the contingent would be girls, while four of the 25 coaches were female: “I’ve told the boys to watch out, the girls are coming.”

Originally published as Geelong to send a record 180 players and 12 teams to the annual Country Championships