Olympiacos Melbourne is a football organisation like no other. Based in Dandenong, Victoria, this organisation has a long and incredible history of helping shape the lives of hundreds of children in the most positive ways.
By instilling values of accountability and work ethic in the local youth, Olympiacos Melbourne is starting to grow into a large organisation of passionate and confident athletes with one very significant goal in mind, for the individual to improve himself in all aspects of his life.
Greek City Times had the opportunity and honour to interview the CEO of Olympiacos Melbourne, Steve Papadopoulos, and gain exclusive insights into their work, goals for the future, and their main purpose as an organisation.
Olympiacos Melbourne started with humble beginnings 18 years ago with its founder Frank, who was a professional football player for Heidelberg in the 1980s. When he saw that his young son lacked self-confidence, he believed something needed to be done. He stuck to what he knew and got his son out of the house, signing him up to play soccer. Frank had no intention of developing his son into a professional soccer player. Rather, he simply wanted his son to believe in himself and gain confidence in a friendly, competitive, loving environment.
Under Frank’s guidance, the other children noticed that their teammate was significantly improving on the football pitch and his daily life. The improvements were so significant that players from multiple teams started seeking Franks's coaching and guidance, and the organisation was born.
Initially, working out of the back of a van, moving from club to club, helping players of all levels not only develop their football skills but also helping the youth find their identity and become better people through sport. Franks's vision has now blossomed into a thriving football training organisation with 300- 400 athletes who are extremely passionate about their sport and driven to succeed in all their endeavours.
“Kids from struggling families, who were having identity issues, were coming to him (Frank). He used sports to help bring confidence and self-belief back in kids… It was the mental side that came first, and then from there, we would see physical improvements.”
Steve highlighted that there was never an intention in the beginning to develop professional footballers.
This organisation's main focus and purpose has always been to create a safe and loving environment for children to find their identity and make positive improvements in all aspects of their lives through sport.
“The kids start to take accountability for their own improvement because of the belief in themselves and confidence they have developed. Because of this, they grow up to become successful business owners, fantastic employees, great husbands and wives, great fathers and mothers.”
Furthermore, football has always been a very expensive sport to pursue, and as a result, the main goal of Olympiacos Melbourne is to make thier programs accessible to everybody.
For this reason, the organisation's main goal in the near future is to lower their already extremely low fees to allow children from lower socio-economic backgrounds the opportunities to develop a passion for the sport and improve themselves and their self-belief.
“This is a place of peace. There is no bullying here. We are all in this together. If a player has a bad day, they know that they can pick themselves up and have a better game next time. Through our support system, their improvement goes through the roof.”
Being under Olympiacos for the last four years has opened up opportunities and pathways for the players to Europe. As players make significant improvements in their game and catch the eye of the elite, professional football clubs, the organisation is able to create support systems to help fund the players’ journeys into these clubs.
This is very unique and significant because typically, in the professional football scene, players do not receive such assistance to have a chance to train and possibly compete in Europe.
At Olympiacos Melbourne, they have been able to send three players to Europe, and they have all been signed to the Lithuanian professional football league. This is very significant because the program provides opportunities for children from struggling families to live out their dreams and develop careers in the sport they love.
“What tends to happen is, with the focus being mental health based, the kid's psyche changes as he improves. He starts developing confidence and self-belief and realises- hey, I’m actually half decent at this- and then chooses to pursue a career in the sport… Our biggest priority is to lower our fees so that kids from poorer families can get these opportunities. That is who we are trying to help.”
Olympiacos Melbourne is clearly a unique and special organisation that focuses solely on making children from all backgrounds into successful and confident men and women. On the sports side, they focus on positive reinforcement and skill development.
Steve stresses that fitness and physical ability come secondary to skill and game awareness. For this reason, they are able to develop successful football players in a fun and supportive environment.
“When you say to the kids, I will only respect you when you deliver results, they are going to have a different mentality. We tell the kids that they are made perfectly in God’s image, and there is nothing wrong with them. The children will give you respect because you have given it to them and then they will work harder and improve significantly. They become what they were intended to be. We don’t force results, they come naturally through love and support.”
If you would like to find Olympiacos Melbourne to see the different programs they offer, they have a website, olympiacos.com.au, and are active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @olympiacosmelb.
