Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to congratulate the Hume Valley Soccer Club in my electorate of Calwell for completing a very successful 2013 soccer season which saw the club achieve great success in winning the premier league of the Victorian Amateur Football Association for the 2013 season. The competition this season involved 12 teams competing in what was a very tough and highly skilled contest. Hume Valley defeated Moreland United to take the premiership title.

In addition to that great success, the Hume Valley Soccer Club won the Assyrian Soccer Championship for 2103 in Sydney. It is the first time in 14 years that a team from Victoria, in this case the Hume Valley Soccer Club from my electorate, won the Assyrian cup in Sydney. It is always great to see Melbourne defeat Sydney in some form or another.

These landmark victories were celebrated at a function on 22 November at Brookwood Receptions. It was hosted by members of the Australian Chaldean Federation and the Chaldean and Assyrian community.

I want to congratulate the club president, Mr Wadie Shmon, and the trainer, Zeyad Matti. They have done a great job. I also want to congratulate all the team members, their supporters and, indeed, the community itself. It takes a lot of heart and effort to keep clubs like this successful.

The Iraqi-Chaldean community is an emerging community in my electorate made up mainly of migrants who have settled here under the refugee and humanitarian program. (Time expired)