St George FC legend Carlo Tini eager for silverware on Sunday
You would be hard pressed to find someone more passionate about St George FC than TD Carlo Tini.
He has been involved at the club since 2007 but shifted to the women’s program in 2013 when they were relegated to State League Women’s.
Tini built the club from the ground up, working through all five grades with a low budget and all on passion.
“We had to build it from youth and my plan was to build from within and key a high retention rate at the club.” said Tini.
“We’re proud of where we’ve come from. Starting from State League Women’s to League One Women’s.
“We chipped away each year at either old Barton Park which was long and made it hard for the opposition and now have a wonderful facility back at Barton Park.”
Now those plans are paying dividends for St George FC. They constantly feature in finals across the grades and their First Grade squad is aiming for back-to-back title wins.
“One of the biggest things for us has been including Girls SAP. We have had 11 or 12 girls move from that program into first grade.
“We have had four of our sides in the 2024 finals after winning 14s, 16s and Firsts in 2023 which shows girls are staying our system.”
The First Grade side hasn’t always been the flashiest side in League One Women’s but they have a team spirit which is unbreakable.
They have been nomads using several training fields and variety of times which makes back-to-back Grand Finals something special.
“It is amazing achievement to get back to the Grand Final how crazy our training schedule has been using different grounds including a cow paddock without line markings in pre-season.”
St George FC have become finals specialists, treating it like a new competition and look to knock off Mt Druitt after beating the Premiers SD Raiders FC in the semi-finals.
Reflecting on this season, Tini has a pair of highlights which stand out for him headed into the decider.
“It was an honour to be the first side to play at the new Barton Park facility on May 4th and getting the first win at the venue in front of Bayside Council members.
“Also, our game against SD Raiders FC where we came back to win 4-1 in Round 18 which was a performance typical of St George FC.”
Tini beams with pride talking about how much St George FC has meant to him since taking over the women’s program in 2012.
“It means everything to me – passion and respect for the club with everyone coming together and working towards a goal.
“Darryl Hancock was a director at St George FC who backed me to build the program then he died a year later but it is people like him which embodies the club.”
St George FC aim to win back-to-back League One Women’s titles on Sunday afternoon at Landen Stadium.
The game will be streamed live on FNSW YouTube with Mel Muscat and Eric Subijano behind the microphone.
