The Canterbury District Soccer Football Association (CDSFA) of Sydney’s south and inner west hosted their annual volunteer recognition dinner on Friday at Waterview in Bicentennial Park.
In attendance were a number of dignitaries including the Federal Member for Reid, Sally Sitou MP; State Member for Strathfield, Jason Yat-Sen Li MP; State Member for Balmain, Jamie Parker MP; Mayor of Canterbury Bankstown, Khal Asfour; Mayor of Canada May, Angelo Tsirekas; Mayor of Burwood, John Faker; Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne; Chairman of Football NSW, Gilbert Lorquet and former Socceroo Jim Patikas.
On the night, which was the first since 2019, eight volunteers of Greek heritage received a CeC Barlow Award in recognition of their outstanding service to promoting and developing football in the Canterbury Association over the past three seasons.
The winners are as follows: Dimitri Tsioukanis (Balmain DFC), Michael Makaritis (Burwood FC), Jerry Bitas (Canterbury Referees Association), Michael Stavrou (Concord JSC), Christina Kambounias and Chris Xenikas (Cooks River Titans) and Alexandra and Peter Georgopoulos (Strathfield FC).
In a Facebook post, Concord Junior SC congratulated Michael Stavrou, writing: “Michael has always taken on the jobs nobody wants to do, organising the kit each year, the pick-up and drop-offs to the Association.”
“His biggest legacy to the Club is his work on MBR [Stadium], the vision, years of lobbying for funds, permissions etc. 2022 is the year we truly got to see the value MBR has added for all our players.”
