After two wonderful years of service as the Junior Football Manager, the Eastern Football Netball League has accepted the resignation of Paul Giannopoulos.
Giannopoulos stepped into the role in the lead-up to the 2022 season and immediately made an impact with the league’s member clubs.
During his tenure with the league, The EFNL saw an increase to 400 junior teams in 2023, the largest team count since 2019.
Junior participation numbers were also up, 9,024 participants, an increase of 363 from the 2022 season. Girls football also saw further development under Giannopoulos with a 10% increase on teams this season.
In 2023, Giannopoulos launched the Under 8 Girls competition, the first league in the country to introduce this. The competition held at King’s Park was a great success with 39 girls participating, further developing the junior pathway for girls’ football in the Eastern region.
In a joint-initiative with AFL Victoria, Giannopoulos managed the return of the EFNL Under 7 series in 2023. Close to 450 participants registered to play in a four-week carnival series, supported by the league’s junior clubs.
The EFNL are very appreciative of the dedication, passion, and commitment that Giannopoulos has shown over the past two years, with significant contribution to the league, the junior clubs and their participants.
Giannopoulos will be sorely missed but the league wishes him all the best in the next exciting chapter of his life.
For all junior football enquiries, please contact Dyson Baker at dbaker@efnl.org.au or Kirsty Jamieson at kjamieson@efnl.org.au.