By Tania Phillips
Six members of the Southern Downs and Granite Soccer community have been offered the chance to tour Germany and attend training camps in June/July next year following the Rale Rasic Joeys Mini World Cup in Inverell at the weekend.
Stanthorpe Under 14 players Kai Lang and Braylen Harvey, 13/14 girls team members Siena Bell and Sophia Calvisi and Warwick Under-14s player Elyas Stumer and Coach Cameron Davey were all selected to join the Joey’s All Star teams for the football training experience in Germany.
The selected players all receive part scholarships ($1000 subsidy) towards the 27-day trip which involves intense training and competitive games and tournaments. Players stay at one of Germany’s Elite sports schools for male and female footballers in West Germany with coaching staff from professional clubs training them on selected training days.
Stanthorpe and Warwick both fielded two teams in the tournament, which attracts large numbers of junior teams from NSW and Qld each year across several age groups.
The event is on it’s way to becoming the biggest Regional Football Tournament in Australia. Each team plays under the banner of a country to see which “nation” “wins the World Cup” in their division. Stanthorpe finished with two second placings and Warwick finished with a fourth and fifth spot across the divisions.
The two local representative teams proved dominant in the Under 14s Division with Stanthorpe, (playing as Spain) coached by football stalwart Franco Arcidiacono, coming close to taking the title.
Stanthorpe football spokesperson Julie-Ann Spiller said Arcidiancono was the driving force behind the team which only lost one game in the early rounds going down one-nil to eventual winners Toowoomba Grammar (who were playing as Argentina).
“The Stanthorpe boys placed second overall in the Under 14 category,” she said.
“They finished second to Toowoomba Grammar, coached by former Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey, going down 4-1 in the final. They finished the entire tournament with 32 goals for, and five goals against.
“Franco Arcidiacono is to be commended for his tireless efforts, commitment and dedication in preparing this team for this Mini World Cup Tournament.
“He was supported by Manager Shane Torrens and assistant coach Mark Spiller but he really put so much time and effort into this tournament and it paid dividends.
Warwick, making their return to the event, also starred in the Under 14s (playing as France) finishing in fourth-place according to club president Dom Benz.
“We haven’t gone to this carnival for the past few years – we just have the capacity to do it,” he said.
“It takes time to prepare for something like this, you need to have a good side to go with and you want to prepare it earlier in the season. Som what we did, about halfway through the season, we selected Under12s and Under 14s teams for the Rale Rasic Mini World Cup. We thought we’d challenge ourselves and step up again.
“The Under 12s played eight games over three days, had two wins, two draws and three losses – ending up fifth on the table out of nine teams. And then our Under 14s team ended up fourth – losing the play off for third-fourth. Everyone was really happy with the way we performed. We hadn’t exposed our players to this level of competition for a few years.
“The beauty of this tournament is they nominated the three teams to take to Germany the following year. We had our player from the Under 14s Elias Stumer but we also had our under-12s coach (and seniors player) Cameron Davey. That’s a great boon for the club. It shows the level of talent we foster here – being a small country club we can hold our own.”
The Stanthorpe girls’ team, playing as the USA, also did really well, finishing runners-Up in their age group.
“All the players bonded well, had a great time and played great football,” coach, Andrew Kendall OAM said.
“Manager Tanya Bell and I really enjoyed working with the girls and appreciated the support of the parents.
“Congratulations to the girls and thanks to Football Stanthorpe who sponsored the team.”
After beginning in 2010 and initially being hosted for eight years at Inverell NSW, the tournament moved to Hervey Bay QLD in 2018. It was staged at Hervey Bay until 2021. In 2022, the tournament was played at Lismore and returned in 2023 back to Inverell, where it will have its permanent home.
The event is well on the way to becoming the biggest Regional Football Tournament in Australia within the next few years. We have made some magnificent changes to the tournament, including changes to the rewards for players and coaches.
The late Rale Rasic OAM, Socceroo and first Australian FIFA World Cup coach, was patron of the tournament from the beginning and when Rasic died in 2023 the tournament was renamed from the Joeys Mini World Cup in 2023 to the Rale Rasic Joeys Mini World Cup.
