Goulburn Valley Suns under-13s ranked second in the state after unbelievable season

Four months on from being placed in division three for grading, the young Suns have not only jumped the gate into division one but won it, progressed to state finals and finished second.

The minnows became torchbearers this season and, despite a 6-2 loss to Glen Eira on Sunday in the decider, coach David Davkovski was as proud as punch of his bright sparks.

“I don’t want to say it will never be repeated, but I would love for it be repeated,” he said.

“It’s such a special moment for the players, for the parents, for the club to see a team take it as far as these young players did.

“It’s the first year this team has entered into the metro competition and it’s the first year they’ve trained together as a team two nights a week.

“(In the) five years prior to that, they’d been coming in once a week and playing the odd competition.”

GV Suns’ under-13s have been together as a group for six years, but were heavily underestimated by the state body before a ball was kicked this season.

After sweeping the division three opposition aside in pre-season grading, Davkovski’s junior juggernauts skyrocketed up the ranks into the 13A North competition.

Then they did it all again.

The Suns dropped one game the entire season, winning 13 out of 14 games and scoring 50 goals while conceding just 11 to finish top by a whopping 14-point margin.

Finals came next, with the side beating Eltham Redbacks 2-0 in the semis before stacking up against Glen Eira to take the state cake in the under-13 standings.

William Mathers and Joseph Shay hit the back of the net, but the south-east Melbourne-based side prevailed, putting an end to a fabulous four months of competition for Davkovski and his plucky young bunch.

“I was not shocked, but a little surprised with the success we were having throughout the year, but having said that, the group is a pretty unique group of players and they do knock the ball around well,” he said.

“Before we all knew it, here we are, a little country team, mixing it with the big guys.

“It was bloody awesome.”

The Suns’ under-13s weren’t just good, they were “good”.

Davkovski speculated his side didn’t receive a single yellow card all season.

Though he was one off — Jeremiah Elrayah copped a caution in round 14 — it’s a remarkable disciplinary record for any side, regardless of age.

“We’ve really tried to foster a healthy environment and we have created a very good culture within that team,” Davkovski said.

“When we talk culture, we talk about children, attitudes, playing style, parents — the whole thing. The culture is a very holistic way to look at it.”

It’s not always easy getting buy-in from 12 and 13-year-olds.

But Davkovski has been in the coaching caper for quite some time and his experience — paired with the kids’ skill — has resulted in some thumping wins against several top Melbourne clubs.

“We weren’t beating community teams, we were beating strong NPL teams,” Davkovski said.

However, in the junior pathway, the onus is placed on development over results.

A more considerable achievement would be replicating what the under-13s managed in 2024 on a more consistent basis.

And with more searingly skilled green shoots bursting through the ground at the Suns, Davkovski said “why not?”.

“I really hope the program that I’ve been lucky enough to lead over the last few years has been heavily focused to develop similar teams,” he said.

“Will it be repeated? 100 per cent I think so.

“We’ve got some strong kids and groups coming through, there’s lots of potential, but you still need to support it with a healthy environment and a good culture.

“Having good kids is not the only ingredient, you need to really support it with all the key elements.”