Carl Valeri is a name synonymous with many Victorian footballing households due to his heroics at Melbourne Victory. Now that his time in professional sport has come to an end, he is devoting his time to giving back to the game at a community level.
Originally hailing from Canberra, Valeri officially called Victoria home in 2014 when he returned to Australia to play in the A-League for Melbourne Victory after a 10-year stretch playing in Italy.
"I was 29 when I decided to come back and play in Australia. Melbourne Victory was always the club I wanted to come back and play for, so I was very lucky to be able to fulfill that goal and dream in my life," explained Valeri.
"When we moved to Melbourne, we didn't have a home, so we started looking around while staying with the in-laws (in Gisborne).
"We loved the community and lifestyle that Gisborne and the Macedon Ranges offer. We went to see a house that was for sale which we had been looking at online and fell in love with it immediately. We pretty much made an offer straight away."
Following his retirement in 2019, Valeri spent a further three years at Melbourne Victory before deciding to make a career change to work for Convera, assisting businesses to move money around the world, but he still wanted to be involved in football.
"When I retired, I had this grand idea of starting my own academy because I wanted to give back to football. I wanted to help people. I started doing some sessions here and there, but I really struggled to send the invoice to people, it just didn’t feel right" he explained.
"The best way for me to give back to football and immerse my kids into the local community was to join Gisborne SC, so I got involved as much as I could.
"You start at watching training, and then you're coaching a single session, and then the next minute you're coaching three teams," Valeri said.
Valeri signed as the U9’s Girls coach in 2019. However, his involvement in the club quickly escalated beyond his initial vision.
"I love coaching my kids. It is fantastic. People donated their time to help me, and now I can do the same," he said.
"Last year, the opportunity came up to run for president, and I put my hand up and was voted in. We have a fantastic committee and sub-committee. We are all like-minded people.
"At the end of last season, one of our senior coaches went to a higher league, and some of the players followed him. Being my first year as president, I initially said, 'I never wanted to coach seniors; I'll coach my kids, but that's as far as I'll go.'
"We didn't have many options, and we were losing players, so I put my hand up, and it turned out to be the best decision I had made.
"Football has been such a big part of my life, and it has always been my go-to when there has been an issue. Football was my thing; it was my meditation. When I was on the pitch, I wouldn't have a care in the world. When I retired, I didn't have that connection.
"Coaching gave me that outlet. It gave me that same buzz, and getting that connection became so important after I lost my Mum in February this year. There will be a void the rest of my life, but football has been helping me”.
Under Valeri's leadership, Gisborne SC has surpassed pre-COVID-19 numbers, with 390 participants this season compared to 384 in 2019 and 382 in 2016.
"We are really proud of the progress we are making," Valeri said.
"The Macedon Ranges is growing, and as a consequence, the club is growing. This year we have four U8’s teams and we have seen a massive spike in female participation”.
"We have entered a female team in every age group up until U16. That is something we are really proud of."
To ensure the club continues to grow and prosper, Valeri and the GSC committee have tried to find foolproof ways to keep fees down.
"Our fees are the lowest I have come across," he said.
"Next year, we are also looking at potentially decreasing the fees. I know that sounds silly in this current economic environment, but we have found a way to save our members costs and help us be more sustainable.
"We go through so much equipment and uniforms; it is ridiculous.
"What we are looking at doing is recycling playing kits. Not traditional recycling but returning perfectly fine kits to the Club for us to re-distribute. Members will have the option to purchase kits from our web store or have a used kit. We want to give families the option. This way, we can keep fees down, saving our members money, and help the environment by creating less wastage.
"We are also trying to maximize what we can give back to our members. That is why we have employed a goalkeeper coach for our MiniRoos and junior teams, purchased a Veo camera to record matches for our members and provide additional sessions through Vio’s Football School.
"Vio’s Football School comes out and coaches all of our teams at least two times a season. Not only do the kids benefit, but it also provides the coaches with ideas and suggestions. All our coaches are volunteers, either parents or siblings. We find providing this service is a great way to give back to our members and it is totally funded by the club.”
Gisborne Soccer Club is playing its part in Football Victoria's goal of achieving 50/50 gender participation in the sport by 2027, with equal opportunity across the board.
"Naturally, having two daughters (have to mention my son too), I want to give them the best opportunity to love their football, and that's what we are trying to do for every member at the club regardless of gender or how you identify," Valeri said.
"Our vice-president, treasurer, and secretary are all female and 50% of our sub-committee committee is female too. I feel we are building something special.”
"We have equaled the investment we have put into the men's and women's programs at the senior level. We are trying to do everything we can for both teams and create a pathway for our members to stay at GSC from Miniroo’s right up to senior football”.
Valeri said nothing could quite compete with being a footballer as it is the "best job in the world," but he is enjoying the game from a different perspective.
"On the weekend, we played against a club, and they were Victory fans. We chatted, took some photos and ate food from their canteen. I just loved it," he said.
"I think this is great; this is exactly what I needed in my life after my career”
"I have that connection, which I believe makes me a better person, and keeps me healthy. This is the message I am trying to pass on to all our members. Life can be tough but through sport and football you have an outlet and support.”
Although tasting success on-field in State League 4 with Gisborne would be nice, Valeri hopes his presence can help grow football and sport in the area.
"The majority of people don't know I played and had a professional career, and I like it that way," he said.
"What I am really enjoying in my role is engaging with other teams and even other sports in the Macedon Rangers.
"Working together to help people play sport, whether it's AFL, Athletics, or Football. My goal is to engage all the clubs in the Macedon ranges so we can be a stronger presence in the community.”
"If we could work together and share ideas on what is working and what is not, I think we would see the benefit across Victoria.
"If anyone has any ideas that they think would be great for Gisborne SC or wants to learn more about what we are doing, reach out. We'd be happy to help."
“I thought about what the best way for me to give back to football and I wanted to give my kids a good community feel so I decided to join Gisborne SC and get involved as much as I could.
“All of a sudden you’re watching training and the next minute you’re coaching a session and then the next minute your coaching,” Valeri said.
Valeri signed up as the club’s U14s coach, however, his involvement in the club would quickly escalate into more than he first envisioned.
“I love coaching my kids it is fantastic, people donated their time to help me and now I can do the same,” he said.
“Last year the opportunity came up to run for president and I put my hand up and was voted in, we have a fantastic committee underneath me and we get along really well, we are all like-minded people.
“At the end of last season, one of our senior coaches went to a higher league and some of the players followed him, and being my first year as president I was like I was said ‘I never wanted to coach seniors; I’ll coach my kids but that’s as far as I’ll go’.
“We didn’t have many options and we were losing players, so I put my hand up and it turned out to be the best decision I had made.
“Football has been such a big part of my life and it has always been my go-to when there has been an issue.
"Football was my thing; it was my meditation. When I was on the pitch, I wouldn’t have a care in the world and when I retired, I didn’t have that connection.
“Coaching gave me that outlet it gave me that same buzz, and getting that connection became so important to me because I lost my mum in February so that was a tough time and still is a tough time and will be for the rest of life.
“I am switched off when I am going to training and matches and I really needed it this year, the stars aligned, and I am really loving my coaching.”
Under Valeri’s leadership, Gisborne SC has surpassed pre-COVID-19 numbers, with 390 participants this season compared to 384 in 2019 and 382 in 2016.
“We are really proud of the way we go about things,” Valeri said.
“We are a regional club, but we do play metro teams and that is the hard part we have a funny catchment area. Gisborne is growing like every suburb in Melbourne.
“The area is growing so the club is growing and what we are seeing is that we have three U8 boys teams this year we have seen a massive spike in girls in the under 10 ages.
“We have entered a female team in every age group up until U16 that is something we are really proud of.”
To ensure the club continues to grow and prosper, Valeri along with his board has tried to find foolproof ways to keep fees down.
“What we are trying to do is create a sustainable model where we can charge people less and give back more, our fees are the lowest I have come across,” he said.
“Next year we are also looking at decreasing the fees once again I know that sounds silly in this environment, but we have found a way we want to be sustainable.
“We go through so much equipment and uniform, it is ridiculous.
"What we are looking at doing is doing a web store where we can deduct that amount from the fees and if you need to buy a kit you a more than welcome to but there are some kits we can pass on from other players.
We want to give families the option, this way we would deduct the fees for everyone really while also being sustainable.
We are trying to maximise what we can give back to our members while being a great place to learn football and be a part of a community and that is why we have employed a goalkeeper coach this year.
“We have got an academy who comes out and coaches our kids two times a week, the academy coaches the kids, but it also coaches the coach and gives them ideas because you have to remember we are all volunteers.”
Gisborne is playing its part in Football Victoria to reach its goal of 50/50 gender participation in the sport by 2027 with equal opportunity across the board.
“Naturally having two daughters I want to give them the best opportunity to succeed and that’s what we are trying to do for every female at the club,” Valeri said.
“Our vice-president, treasurer; 80% of our committee is female and they are such a big help.
“I coach the U14 girls and this year we U13s even have two teams, it is really cool; we are building something special.
“We have equaled the investment we have put in the men’s and women’s programs at the senior level we are trying to do everything we can for both teams which we are hoping will have a knock-on effect.
“Hopefully we will see our numbers improve next year on the back of the success of the Women’s World Cup here in Australia, we can already see the smiles on our girls' faces looking forward to the event, it will be great for the game.”
Valeri said nothing could quite compete with the ‘best job in the world’ but he is enjoying the game from a different perspective.
“On the weekend we went to a club, and they were Victory fans and we took some photos and they were eating this authentic food from their culture which is important to them and I just loved it,” he said.
"I think this is great this is exactly what I needed in my life.
“I have that connection which I believe makes me a better person, keeps me entertained, keeps me healthy.
“I am trying to give that to these kids and adults who are going through a tough time at work and school and anyone that wants it. It’s a great atmosphere and something that I enjoy doing.”
Although tasting success on-field in State League 4 with Gisborne would be nice, Valeri hopes his presence can help grow football and sport in the area.
“The majority of people don’t know I played and had the career that I had and that’s cool,” he said.
“What I am really enjoying in my role is engaging with other teams and even other sports in the Macedon Rangers.
“Working together to help kids play sport whether its AFL, Athletics or Football – just helping each other for our kids.
“If we could work together more as community clubs and workshop ideas on what is working and what’s not, I think we would see the benefit across Victoria.
“If anyone has any ideas that they think would be great for Gisborne SC or wants to learn more about what we are doing reach out we’d be happy to help.”