Croatian Football Vice President impressed with Sydney United’s Youth League




After a hectic few days at the FIFA Congress, the Vice-President of the Croatian Football Federation, Mr Ivan Brlekovic, extended his visit to Australia to spend time with players and officials at Sydney United.
Mr. Ivan Brlekovic spent Saturday morning watching a number of Premier Youth Games at the Sydney United Sports Centre.

Mr Brlekovic commented on the stature of the 14 and 15 year old boys and asked, “What these boys were fed in Sydney to make them so large”.

Mr Brlekovic was impressed with the tempo of the game and the skill level shown by the Sydney United boys.

He commented as much during the post match meeting and wished the boys the best of luck for the remainder of the season.

Mr Brlekovic commented how impressive the facilities at the Sydney United Sports Centre were and how extensive the Junior, Premier Youth and Senior teams playing structure was.

He praised the Board of Directors on their professionalism in managing 40 Football Teams from Under 6's to the Senior Team playing in the TeleChoice Premier League.

Mr Brlekovic was pleased that one of the foundation Croatian clubs of the Diaspora was getting on with developing football players and was more impressed with the fact that 69% of all players registered with Sydney United had Croatian Heritage.

He was amazed that a Croatian Club had also given 32 Socceroos to Australia.

Apart from watching a number of the Premier Youth teams play, Mr Brlekovic met with Sydney United Directors to discuss opportunities to strengthen the relationship with the HNS and offer opportunities for high potential players to consider a career path through Croatia.

Further discussions are planned to consider technology options in tracking the progress of identified players.

The club is considering a program to identify players that could be groomed in conjunction with assistance from the HNS.