Football is truly the world’s game and can bring people together from all walks of life and this sentiment has never been truer in the small Victorian town of Swan Hill.
In a city in the state’s northwest, where the population hardly exceeds 10,000 people a group of Indian men get together several times a week to play football at the grounds of the Swan Hill Soccer Club.
Gurjeet Singh, who is a part of the social group, and a member of the club said the group had been getting together to play for over a decade.
“When we started playing, we were of all abilities, some not very good but some had some skill,” he explained.
“Everybody loves football, it is a game for everyone.
“We enjoy our time together.”
Mr Singh said the group started small and originally started playing football to keep fit in the cricket off-season, before growing into a small community of 15-20 players who get together almost every night of the week.
“Football keeps you fit, that’s why we play,” he said.
“It provides us an opportunity to get together and talk to each other as we miss a little bit of home as well.
“We have fun, we have a good laugh, sometimes arguments as well.
“I will be 41 next year and I still love it.”
The group used to play wherever they could find a spare field of grass in town, before Tony – from the Swan Hill Soccer Club approached them in 2021 about using the football field for their matches.
“At first, we played at the Swan Hill Recreational Reserve, then we had a ground at the Swan Hill Football Club (AFL). We would play until we couldn’t see the ball anymore” Singh explained.
“Tony Dipalmer (Swan Hill Division 2 men’s coach/ committee member) saw us playing there and said he liked the way we were playing, and he thought some of us were really good.
“He encouraged us to join the club and even allowed us to use their ground, which made us really happy.
“I always tell Tony that I owe him too much because he lets us use his lights and I don’t know how much it would add up, we appreciate the gratitude the club has shown to us.”
The group has proceeded to join the futsal competition and Mr Singh has since made a handful of appearances for the club.
“We have played here (Swan Hill Soccer Club) ever since and we turn the lights on and play as late as we can,” Mr Singh said.
In August 2022, Schools Programs Participation Officer, Luke Francis visited Swan Hill as part of the Positive Start Program where he was invited to spectate one of the youth training sessions at the Swan Hill Soccer Club by – Chris Lahy.
Upon arrival at the session, he noticed the pitch was split in two for the juniors and the social group’s scratch match.
Not too long after the training session, one of the Indian players approached Mr Francis and encouraged him to join in the fun, and with a bit of convincing, he spent four hours across the two nights playing football with the group.
Mr Francis said he was “blown away” with the kindness and acceptance of the group.
“I was very surprised at how willing they were to involve me even though they didn’t know me. They wanted nothing more than to play football,” he said.
“It’s not about anything else, it is about playing football and having fun socially.
‘I am very grateful to have met them and I am upset I can’t spend more time with them.”
Mr Francis discussed the group's generosity to fellow Schools Programs Participation Officer, John Kostopoulos who decided he wanted to reciprocate their generosity by donating spare kits he had at his disposal at the Oakleigh Cannons.
“He is a very kind and caring man and he wanted to send it to the team, so they looked like a professional unit,” Mr Francis said.
“It was a beautiful gesture.”
Swan Hill Soccer Club Vice President, Chris Lahy said the relationships they were fostering with the group was “just fantastic”.
“They are there every night, which is extraordinary and some of the players operate businesses in town and are wanting to pledge sponsorship to the club, which is great,” he said.
“It is quite an eclectic mix of Indian cultures because amongst this group of Indian players there is a wide variety of cultures and languages.
“Within their group, there are players who don’t speak the same language as the guy standing next to him so if a stranger where to join in and language was the barrier, they all have that barrier, so the language is football.”
Mr Lahy said John Kostopoulos was amazed at the community-minded gesture the club gave the social group.
“I told him that was how our club operates if your club doesn’t do that it doesn’t have much future,” Mr Lahy said.
“We know FV is very likeminded in engaging in their approach to engaging people in football because we have so many cultures and nationalities that play the game.
“We are at that place where we want to embrace those guys and hopefully that will draw them into the club.”