Homegrown South Melbourne talent Leandros Papastergiadis makes first senior start

South Melbourne FC’s Leandros Papastergiadis has taken an important step successful his shot journey, making his archetypal elder start successful the club’s NPL Victoria clash against Caroline Springs George Cross FC connected Monday.

Despite Hellas suffering a 4-0 defeat, the juncture marked a important milestone for Papastergiadis, who archetypal joined the nine arsenic a six-year-old and has progressed done the inferior ranks to the elder side.

Along the way, Papastergiadis benefited from the guidance of respective respected inferior coaches, including Esteban Quintas and Sasa Kolman, some of whom aboriginal moved into elder coaching roles. Their power helped signifier a civilization of resilience and hard work among young Hellas players.

The club’s youth improvement structure was besides strengthened during the tenure of erstwhile Football Director Andrew Mesourouni under the presidency of Leo Athanasakis, while Technical Director Strati Xynas and Peter Kokotis continued to oversee the improvement of emerging talent.

With South Melbourne presently competing successful the Oceania Professional League and respective elder players overseas, opportunities person opened for the club’s adjacent procreation to summation valuable first-team experience. Papastergiadis, 1 of the club’s Under-23 captains, is among the latest young players to marque the transition into elder football.