Olympiacos Melbourne is a football philanthropy that has transformed hundreds of children and seniors in the most influential way during its long history, not only on the pitch but also off it.
The organisation was established almost 20 years ago with its founder Frank, who developed players on the football pitch and also in their daily lives.
Olympiacos Melbourne CEO Steve Papadopoulos is also at the heart of it, where he made the decision to join in that lead role four years ago.
Speaking to Soccerscene, he provides an in-depth insight into why he joined, how reciprocal European clubs are to Australian players and much more.
“I have known the founder for quite a number of years and his name is Frank, he has been running philanthropy for close to 20 years,” Papadopoulos said.
“What l noticed was the change that he makes to kids, from a soccer results point of view it’s phenomenal and from a psychological point of view as well it is absolutely amazing, and so l was touched by that and just came in to help out with that and do whatever to assist in that aspect.”
Four significant initiatives exist in this organisation. The first, the Helping Kids Football Centre, starts at developing the juniors self-identity and confidence. The second, Football Improvement Centre, helps families afford the extra training for struggling club players. The ID Schools – Junior Euro pathway is the third initiative which allows families to afford the kids Euro pro dream with Olympiacos FC having the first right of acceptance and refusal for boys under the age of 16. The last initiative, the Men’s Euro Pro pathway, allows families to be able to afford the Euro pro dream for their young men, where the philanthropy finds a suitable club in Europe from which they can commence their professional career.
The young players that play for clubs and looking for additional training to improve and get more gametime at the organisation’s football centres allow parents and struggling families to be able to afford that opportunity.
The cost of four sessions per week starts at $29, making it affordable for the families struggling financially.
The cost of one junior player to play for higher league local clubs is $4,000, where Papadopoulos was asked is this an obstacle for the younger footballers coming through.
“I think it is because there is a lot of families who can’t afford that, but what is a bigger obstacle if a child is wanting to go overseas and they do want to do the extra training hours, the parents have to purchase additional training on top of that $20,000 – $30,000 that’s spent and that price can vary significantly,” he explained.
Considering Europe is the top prize of every young footballer growing up, Papadopoulos explores how reciprocal European clubs are to Australian players.
“It’s very stiff competition, obviously Europe is the top prize for players, so a lot of Europeans have found is they do a significant number of hours in training and we don’t do as many hours as Australians for various reasons,” he touched on.
“Basically, what they see is there is some quality in Australian players but having said that they know that we are not comparing to them in terms of the training hours that we are doing, they know statistically that we don’t have much of a chance of actually being successful.
“They are aware that if an Australian player comes that they are most likely have not done enough hours required into becoming an elite sportsman. This is where our philanthropy helps, we provide the ability for the extra training hours at a very affordable price.”
In June 2023, the football philanthropy has been able to achieve tangible results for their young men, sending 3 men for pro Euro trials and all 3 are now playing for Euro pro teams. Cristhian Garcia, who started at the Helping Kids Football Centre, managed to start his pro Euro career at 31 years of age at FK Minija, Lithuania. Jack Yousif, 24, and Ahmed Almajidy, 22, both have positions at FK Tauras, Lithuania. All 3 players are now professional European players who are exposed to other European clubs, being able to promote themselves to higher calibre clubs as they prove their worth.
For a player to utilise both their left and right foot during a game is a feature that needs to be upskilled. Another quality to be worked that is not being taught enough is to dribble head-up – Papadopoulos reflected on if it’s a department that Australian players are lacking in.
“I think the one thing that players really need is to have equally strong feet – they can’t have one stronger than the other, that way the opponent is not forcing them onto their weaker foot, and also l think players are not learning enough to dribble with head-up because it is cutting their vision.”
For more information about Olympiacos Melbourne and the programs they provide, click here.
