Pennington's Western Toros soccer club opens doors to new juniors in bid to keep open

by:
Lisa Bachmayer & Tom Bowden From:
Portside Messenger September 25, 2012
10:00PM

THE Western Toros will offer free registrations to all junior boys and girls next year in a bid to keep the Pennington club afloat.
The club had previously offered 30 scholarships to refugee children each year, but will now waive the $480 membership fee for all young players.
President Lou Ricciuto said it would make the sport more accessible to families, who were forced to pay up to $1000 at some Adelaide soccer clubs each year.
Secretary Frank Scorsonelli also hoped the move would be a "fresh start" to boost junior numbers and attract more families to the club.
He said the Toros were "not financially in dire straits" but "had to do something drastic" because they needed the numbers.
Mr Scorsonelli said the club, which fielded four junior teams last year, was one team short of the number required by Football Federation SA.
"They have given us a one-team grace for next year, but we need to be proactive and get a whole lot of people in," he said.
"We're putting everyone on the line for this to work."
Mr Scorsonelli said the lack of juniors meant canteen and fundraising takings were down and a small number of parents and volunteers were left to run the club.
"The more juniors we have, the more parents and helpers we have, which means we can attract more dollars and more sponsors.
"It would be so sad to see the club fold."
Mr Ricciuto said he hoped waiving fees for juniors would create "a level playing field" and allow everyone to participate.
"We're hoping to bring in as many as possible ... by letting kids play for us we're hoping to keep some kids off the street too," he said.
Mr Ricciuto said soccer was agreat way to unite different cultures.
"We've Greeks, Italians, Polish, Ukrainians, Bosnians and Africans and they all get along and work well together."
Football Federation of South Australia club and competition manager Wendy Carter said it made sense for clubs to reach out to young refugees.
"A lot of the refugees, new arrivals and migrants come from a country where football is their No. 1 sport, so they can actually relate to going into football clubs," she said.
Under-14 Daniel, who has played with the Toros for two years, hopes to continue playing soccer at the club.
"We only have a few junior teams at the moment, so hopefully we can get more teams and raise the reputation of the club," he said.
Western Toros will hold their first trials at Collins St, Pennington, on Sunday, October 21. Phone: 0402 990 001 or 0411 196 812.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/penningtons-western-toros-soccer-club-opens-doors-to-new-juniors-in-bid-to-keep-open/story-e6frea83-1226481260028