By Lachlan Mitchell
Melbourne City and Casey have been thrust into the spotlight once again with both the team and the community initiative being nominated for the 2021 Victoria Sports Award.
The City of Casey has welcomed the A-League champions in to the local community with open arms.
Melbourne City train and foster the next generation of soccer-stars at its world-class facility at Casey Fields.
The welcoming to the area has brought about an array of partnerships with local soccer clubs including the Casey Comets and the Berwick City soccer sides.
The global soccer giant, which is also associated with English Premier League side Manchester City, has established connections with local schools and agencies to run free programs.
The organisation hopes to also foster long-term connections with the council to develop and sustain long-term community programs.
The grounds recently hosted the Maccas City Cup with schools and soccer programs from across Victoria going head-to head.
The City Groups step in the right direction has seen Stage two of Casey’s Fields Football Centre of Excellence be in development.
The arena will be a mecca for all local-footballers to aspire to play at.
Casey is no stranger to the Local Government Initiative of the Year award.
The #CaseyGirlsCan campaign won the 2020 award.
The campaign supported women and girls in Casey to participate in physical activities and connect with others in their community.
Melbourne City is also nominated for the AED Authority Team of the Year.
The nomination comes after the team won the A-League Championship and topped the regular-season ladder.
City won the final 3-1 against Sydney FC at AAMI Park.
The Casey-based team has also had a stellar season and sit on top of the table this year.
The side also returned from Asia over the week, after participating in the Asian Champions League.
The team unfortunately didn’t qualify for the knock-out round, but were very gallant facing some of the best-sides from Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong.
City’s players have also had exposure on the international level with Jamie McLaren, Marco Tilio and Mathew Leckie all being regular starters for Australia.
City was also bolstered this season by English-International Carl Jenkinson, who has featured prominently in the English Premier League with Arsenal and West Ham United.
The Team of the Year award is hotly contested this year with the Melbourne Demons and the Melbourne United basketball side also featuring in the category.
Vic Sport Chairman Ron Gauci has praised all organisations for continuing to strive for excellence after a troublesome year.
“Vic Sport is delighted to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the sport and recreation community in what was another trying year for our industry,” he said in a Vic Sport release.
The Awards will be held on 15 June at Melbourne Park.
