Harper Sercombe
Footscray Angliss club stalwart Spiros Koziaris played his 450th game of cricket for the club on Saturday.
Koziaris arrived at the club as a 14-year-old in 1980 and has called Angliss Reserve his home ever since.
“Back then it’s not something that you ever think that you can achieve, to play 450 games, but I’ve been very lucky,” he said.
“I’ve got a beautiful wife, Olympia, that really supports me and makes it a bit easier.
“She’s happy for me that I get to play cricket.
“It’s been a great journey, when I started at the club, we only had two senior teams and one junior team, now we have six senior teams and seven junior teams, so it’s really grown since 1980.”
When asked what has kept Koziaris at the club for over four decades, the answer couldn’t come out quick enough.
“It’s the mateship, it’s definitely the mateship,” he said.
“It’s the friends that you make at the club, it’s so good for your mental health in terms of just being able to talk to people and if you’re feeling a bit down there’s nothing better than coming to training, chatting to your friends.
“I’ve created so many lifelong friendships out of the cricket club, I’ve got friends from 1980 that are still my friends now and I still play cricket with some of them.
“I also enjoy the competitive nature of the sport… but the friends that I’ve got there have me wanting to turn up every year.”
Koziaris said being able to play a game of cricket with his son has been a special memory, and another reason why he is not ready to give it up just yet.
“My son also plays at the club and it’s something that we can do together,” he said.
“We’re not in the same team [anymore], but we enjoy being in the club rooms together and training together.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play a few games with him when he was 12 or 13.
“But as he got older he just became too good for me to be in the same side as him.
“We’ve had some good experiences playing together, some good wins together, taking a catch off each other’s bowling.
“I’ve been lucky and there’s no better feeling as a parent to have a game with your child.”
While Koziaris has been a stalwart of the side on the field, he has also been a major influence in the club’s successes off it, being on the committee for the last 40 years.
“Since I was 18, I was on the committee,” he said.
“I’ve always been involved, I’ve been treasurer for a while now.
“I enjoy seeing the club grow and I want to give back to the club that’s given me so much.
“I like helping out, sometimes it does take up a bit of time, but it’s very rewarding when you see so many people enjoying their time at the club, making friends and you think you’re part of that.”
