VICTORIAN Premier League (VPL) stars will take on Melbourne Victory FC in a charity match to raise funds for victims of the bushfires.

The one-off charity match will also feature a celebrity match as a curtain raiser to the main event, which will feature Victorian Sports Minister James Merlino and other politicians and Victorian sporting identities.

The select VPL team and the Victory will lock horns from 7.30pm, with the curtain raiser to begin at 6pm on 12 May at Olympic Park Stadium.

SPRING Hills Football Club (formed from players in the Caroline Springs, Hillside area) has joined forces with Bacchus Marsh Soccer Club and Satellite City Soccer Club (Melton) to get kids on to the pitch.

The clubs travel each week to one of the respective clubs home grounds to play friendly matches against each other in four and five-a-side matches.

“This is all about giving the children the opportunity to learn about soccer,” Spring Hills FC coach and club secretary Anil Kattula said.

“There will be over 50 boys and girls playing each week, including many new immigrants to the area.

“We see this as a great way of strengthening our community.”

The competition started on Sunday.

FOOTSCRAY Baseball Club’s junior program, riding on the back of an extremely successful summer campaign, continues to grow with the entry of an under-15 team into the Victorian Winter Baseball League competition.

During summer the club’s Little League team (under-12s) completed the home-and-away season with only one loss and then took out a thrilling one-run victory in the grand final against arch rivals Newport Rams.

Half of the under-14 team were so keen on the sport that they asked to continue playing through winter and that has resulted in the first junior winter team being entered by the club.

The side trains on Wednesdays at Hanks Reserve, Yarraville, while the competition began on Saturday with the first game at North Balwyn.

GOALKEEPERS prepare to strap on your gloves – David Coles is coming to town.

The professional goalkeeper coach in the English Premier League competition will be in Melbourne to run a series of goalkeeper coaching sessions at La Trobe University.

Coles is the senior goalkeeper coach at Portsmouth where he works closely with England’s No. 1 keeper, David James.

Premier Football Tuition, run by Delahey’s Roy Hunter will be hosting Coles’ visit. In 2007 Premier Football Tuition brought Eric Steele (Manchester United senior goalkeeper coach) to Melbourne in a similar event with more than 200 local goalkeepers receiving tuition.

The clinics will be held on 6-7 June at La Trobe University, Bundoora.

FOOTSCRAY Hockey Club’s State League Women consolidated top spot on the ladder with a 3-0 win against second placed Mornington at Frankston on Saturday.

The win makes it four from four for the Bulldogs and puts them five points clear on top. Bulldogs coach Glenn Lloyd was thrilled with the win and full of praise for his charges.

“The girls were forced to withstand a lot of pressure early on,” he said.

“Mornington really came at us hard pretty early. But once we got over that there was no turning back.”

At Footscray Hockey Centre, co-tenant RMIT hosted Footscray’s State League Men, with the much-anticipated clash ending in a scoreless draw.

With both sides on the attack early, it was RMIT who were first to test out the goals, with Footscray’s keeper Mat Elkan on fire with some critical saves.

Although it was not a loss, it was a missed opportunity for the young Footscray side to consolidate a spot in the top four.