SOCCER THE 10th staging of the annual Steve Wallace Cup was put on hold last weekend after clubs were hit with player unavailability due to the current pandemic. Instead host club and event organiser Langwarrin changed Saturday’s usual format from group and finals stages to a number of one-off 90-minute games. “The day still went well and was well attended,” Langwarrin president Tanya Wallace said. She plays a pivotal role in organising the charity event named in her father’s honour and this year over $2000 was raised and will be donated to Frankston Hospital’s Emergency Department. The revamped tournament was…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER THE panic attacks are less frequent now but anxiety is a regular companion. Such is the lot of Tanya Wallace, 32, Langwarrin soccer club president and registered nurse who works in emergency at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Fear and uncertainty are ever present on the pandemic frontline and part of her everyday life. “The second lockdown in 2020 was the hardest one,” she said. “I couldn’t see my mum or my brother for three or four months and we had an outbreak in my hospital and mum (also a nurse) had an outbreak in hers. “Being forced into not being…
SOCCER PAUL Truman is the new senior coach of Seaford United. He fills the void left by Peter Schwellinger whose recent departure was unexpected. Schwellinger had coached at Frankston Pines, Old Carey, Melton Phoenix and Whittlesea United before being appointed to the Seaford job in December 2020. However he faced a demanding travel schedule and it eventually proved too much. “I spent up to 10 hours a week in the car just to get to training and back home as I live in Pascoe Vale and work in Truganina,” Schwellinger said. “To coach will cost me $150 dollars minimum per…
SOCCER BAXTER has achieved Gold Level status in the Skilled Workplace program run by Mental Health First Aid Australia. Bryan Jeffrey from MOAT Mental Health Services conducted the course at Baxter Park that involved 16 participants drawn from the soccer club’s administration, coaching and playing ranks. “I spoke to MHFA and they confirmed that no other club in the world has this accreditation,” Jeffrey said. “It entails two days of training but we split the training up into evening chunks to make it easier for the club to organise participants.” The course draws parallels between general first aid and mental…
SOCCER JOSH Hine’s nightmare may be over. Fatherhood, football and a positive prognosis are the keys to unlock the door and walk free of the personal hell he has endured for most of 2020 and throughout 2021. There’s a baby on the way (his partner is due in May) and his surgeon has told the 30-year-old that he’ll be able to play soccer again. That news was a godsend for the star Mornington striker who continues to battle a soul-destroying legacy from a road accident when cycling last year. “I’ve had at least five surgeries since then,” Hine said. Initially…