By Lance Jenkinson
Joe Tanti achieved a lot in his four years as president of the Altona City Soccer Club.
One of his big pushes was being instrumental in City’s alignment with beyondblue, which supports Australians in achieving their best possible mental health.
City has worn beyondblue-branded playing kits annually and raised money and mental health awareness.
It is a legacy Tanti hopes will endure long after his reign.
“I’ve had to use that service once before and it helped me out,” Tanti said. “I felt that was something we should be pushing.”
City will play its annual beyondblue game on the final day of the men’s state league 1 season – against North Sunshine Eagles on Saturday, September 8 at Kim Reserve.
Inspired by the beyondblue partnership, Tanti felt that it was important for Altona City to have a charity aligned with its growing women’s section.
Tanti left the decision to the players to talk about which charity they would like to promote.
They chose the White Ribbon Foundation, which aims to prevent men’s violence against women.
The City women wore specially designed white playing shirts for last Friday’s game against Point Cook .
They won 5-1 – and raised funds and awareness for an important cause.
Tanti was thrilled with their choice of the White Ribbon Foundation.
“We have a lot of males at the club and it’s important to get the word out there that violence against females isn’t going to be stood for and it’s good for us to back it,” Tanti said.
“It’s something that we’ve got to stamp out, so we want to help get the word out there.”
Tanti vacated the presidency to focus on the soccer pathway of his son, who has a bright future in the game. He leaves the club in a better position than it was when he took over.
City has returned to the top tier of the state leagues under his reign and he says the club is “flying” financially.
“Getting the club back to first division was definitely my proudest moment,” Tanti said.
The re-establishment of a women’s team was the last box Tanti wanted to tick before handing over the Altona City presidency.
Just as important was having more women on the committee.
“With the new committee coming in, we’re trying to focus on being diverse and inclusive,” he said. “We’ve managed to get four or five women to put their hand up, where we only had one a couple of years ago. That’s how we want to be known – as a club that’s inclusive and is a community club.”
Altona City played out a 1-1 draw with Essendon Royals in men’s state league 1.
City is eighth on the ladder and will retain its place in the division next season.
In the NPL, Altona Magic won 6-0 over Ballarat City. In men’s state league 1, Yarraville played out a ripping contest against Sydenham Park, but went down 4-3.
Altona East Phoenix split the points in a 0-0 draw with Hume United in men’s state league 2, while Williamstown pipped Point Cook 3-2 in a thrilling men’s state league 3 encounter.
Altona North blitzed Melbourne City 5-0 and is closing in on qualification for the promotion play-offs.
