North Geelong Warriors Football Club will host the 46th Australian Croatian Soccer Tournament in October 2020.
The Australia Croatian Soccer Tournament is among the largest community soccer tournaments in Australia, having been hosted in every Australian state since 1974 and holds the honour of being the oldest national soccer competition still running in Australia.
This four-day event has evolved into a legitimate international event with guests and teams now extending beyond Australia and New Zealand and including teams from Germany, Canada and the United States.
It is estimated the event will attract more than 1,200 participants in over 120 matches, with an anticipated 10,000 people attending the event for football, gala events and business networking lunches. (Based on Australian Croatian Soccer Association 2018 Tournament figures.)
This is the fifth time the Warriors will have hosted the event, with successful tournaments being held in Geelong in 1983, 1992, 1998 and 2008.
Mayor Bruce Harwood:
We're rapt that Geelong has secured yet another major sporting event, giving us the opportunity to showcase our clever and creative city to visitors from across Australia and around the world.We have every confidence that the North Geelong Warriors will be outstanding tournament hosts, setting a new benchmark for community engagement that future hosts will strive to follow.
John Didulica, President, North Geelong Warriors:
The interest in the tournament compounds each year and we see it as perfectly aligned with our club's own ambition to take transformative steps over the next ten years.The tournament is an incredibly engaging event for every segment of the community and, if run effectively, can provide a much-needed economic boost for tournament hosts. The positivity within the club has created a really strong volunteer base in recent times which should allow us to host an incredible 4-day event.
We're very proud to have been selected as hosts and it's a great tribute to our volunteers, our community and the facilities that we have developed over generations.
