Soccer5s Dandenong — Local services in Melbourne

My experience at Soccer5s

On Sunday the 8th of October my team (La Roja) was playing in the Quarterfinals against Soccer5s team (Brindley St Elite), we were playing the same as we would every week, just to come and have a bit of fun with our friends,

The problems occurred in the second half of the game when we were up 7-2, one of the players from the other team (doesn’t work at soccer5s) was trying to take the ball off of our player (Diego), the player trying to take the ball was being extremely aggressive all throughout majority of the game and finally he decided to aggressively pull Diego by the shirt and try to pull him down to the ground,

whilst he was trying to pull him down Diego did what anyone would have done, he tried to get him off by swinging his arm back where he had a hold of his shirt and was aggressively pulling him down, the other player still had a hold of his shirt and then pulled him to the ground leaving a mark around his neck from his t-shirt, once he pulled him to the ground some players from both teams started swarming them, bear in mind Diego has yet to lay a finger on anyone, all he was waiting for was the referee to do something about the situation and send the other player off for dragging him to the ground aggressively, but the referee was clearly waiting for things to get even more out of hand so he could put the blame on my team as he was clearly really good friends with the other guys,

So as the players were running towards Diego which was on the ground our players were trying to get the other guys away from Diego by pushing them away, there were too many of them so I could not see what was happening to Diego on the ground but afterwards he came out with a mark on his neck and face as well so I assume someone must of hit him, the referee then for some reason gave both players red cards even though everyone could clearly see who was in the wrong, All of Brindley St Elites team were still pushing and shoving our players so the referee then decided to cancel the game, the referee then told us that there was CCTV cameras so he could easily just go through the CCTV footage and see who was really in the wrong, so we were all telling the referee then why waste all this time when you can just go inside and look at the CCTV footage, we all knew that if he just looked at the CCTV footage he would see straight away that their player was the one with his hands all over Diego, then we could of even seen how Diego got marks on his face, When we finally went inside the receptionist told us that they don’t actually have CCTV cameras pointing towards the soccer pitches, only inside and in the outdoor dining area.

Their only solution was for someone on both teams to fill out a sheet explaining what happened, which then were clearly not taken seriously due to the fact that if they were to have disqualified any team it most definitely should have never been our team and if there were CCTV cameras there would be evidence to back us up. A few days later I got an email from the manager (Jo) saying that we (La Roja) could not continue in the tournament due to what had occurred on the 08/10 and also due to us having 9 players, “having 9 players” is completely irrelevant seeing that other teams always use 8 players or more. We had 9 players that day but only few played due to the game being stopped. Jo even said to us that “Sundays are not as strict as other days so some rules don’t apply as they would on any other days”, We were told this when we filed a complaint on another team we were versing which had 10 players, the only compensation we got for that game was a free game the following week, the other team did not get kicked out of the competition for breaking rules and regulations. After all of this Brindley St Elite didn’t get disqualified from the tournament but La Roja did. All of this is due to discrimination and everyone at Soccer5s clearly being biased towards their own team and not even acknowledging what we had to say about the situation.

I have attached pictures of Diego’s...

While the facilities are well managed and looked after very nicely, I can not say the same about their treatment towards a series of events.

An incident occurred on the 8th of October 2017 at a 5:40pm quarter final game. The clear leader was Infront at 7-2 quite comfortably when the problems occured. A player on the losing side decided to kick at the feet of one of our players who was shielding the ball from him which I understand is fair to an extent. My teammate gave a slight elbow to him in retaliation that saw the opposing player lose the absolute plot. He flung my friend onto the ground in an aggressive manner and then continued to lay into him throwing punches that left his face covered in bruises. This is considered as assult. This then followed by members of both teams getting in fighting and trying to stop the fight. While the ref had no control whatsoever of the situation as well as the game in process. The game however was ended with the team leading eliminated and the losing side kept to continue and progress into the next round.

Now here are my thoughts on behalf on the disadvantaged side as a spectator and frequent player.

Bias referee's. Some if not all are clearly one sided as their mates often play for the opposing team leaning simple decisions towards them while being less enforcing and being harsh on our team.

No security cameras. Yes the place has CCTV inside the main building, however wouldn't it better to place some news one facing towards the pitch? If implemented, situations like this would be easier to take a more fair and logical approach.

Unfair consequences based on regulations. Rules are that there is to be 5 on the field and no more than 3 substitutions with 8 players on each team during a game. However following the poor investigation into this event, the real reason why our team was forced to leave was because we had 4 subs. How pathetic, why is this the only excuse you can come up with when other teams are clearly doing the same with some teams having up 5 subs to choose from.

All are linked to the final reason, discrimination.

The bias referee's, the poor decisions, the unfair treatment can all be regarded as discrimination towards our group. Why us? Why are we victimised in this manner? In the several months of playing there we have done no cause to bring any sort of attention towards us, we play, shake hands and come back the following week. But it was the stupid and childish act from the opposition player that has caused this trouble for not only us, but yourselves where it should have never happened. If anything they're the real criminals who should be punished not us.

I am nothing more than disappointed.

We came every week as a time where we can all enjoy ourselves playing the beautiful game with our friends at the end of the weekend, nothing more, nothing less. But this fun time was ruined by the unprofessionalism that the staff members in particular the referee's at Soccer5s Dandenong displayed over this period of time for the reasons...

I want to say a huge Thankyou to Jo and her amazing team at Soccer5s. We stumbled upon this hidden Gem a couple of months ago and from the moment I walked into the venue for a look, it has been customer service plus! We held our Engagement Party at the venue that included an amazing efficient bar service, delicious food and wonderful staff members who put up with an array of intoxicated people. Not only did Jo have an answer for any question I asked but had her team completely set up on the night! It was such an easy process it completely made me rethink when people tell you engagements/wedding are supposed to be stressful. I couldn’t have imagined a better night and I’ve heard nothing but amazing reviews from our family and friends. Jo, you and your team are sensational and I promise we will be back! Thank...