Kimon Taliadoros Scholarship

The following was sent to us by everyone's 2nd favourite South Melbourne related journo Bells - the first being South of the Border's very own Cliff, natch - and edited accordingly for extra Hellasification. It's about Kimon and friends promoting the whole Mens Sana In corpore Sano thing, and why not? Good philosophy I reckon.

Two outstanding footballing students, Central Coast Mariners' Andrew Clark and Newcastle Jets' Adam D'Apuzzo, were awarded the inaugural PFA Kimon Taliadoros Scholarships last week in Sydney.

The PFA Taliadoros Scholarships have been established by the Australian Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) in honour of former Socceroo, South Melbourne championship winner and PFA co-founder Kimon Taliadoros. 

The Scholarships will be awarded annually to 2 players who demonstrate excellence in their off-field development, especially through education. One recognises achievement by an experienced player in preparing for life after football. The second is awarded to a player under 23 still forging and building his playing career. Each scholarship is worth $5,000.

"I am delighted the PFA has launched this initiative," Taliadoros said today. "I am even more pleased that, in conjunction with Football Federation Australia, the PFA is implementing programs throughout the A-League and all Australian national teams that aim to develop players both as footballers and citizens."

Andrew Clark not only helps marshal the Central Coast defense; he also acts as the Mariners' Head of Sport Science (Strength & Conditioning Coach). Having obtained a Bachelor of Sport Science in 1996, Clark has committed to a Master of Philosophy in Sport Science at the University of Newcastle since joining the Mariners. The focus of his thesis is the time and motion analysis of elite professional footballers through the use of GPS technology. His on motion analysis using GPS technology has been presented to the 2008 European College of Sport Science Conference in Lisbon, and is on the agenda for the Football Australasia Conference to be held in Melbourne in October.

Whilst winning the 2008 A-League Championship with the Newcastle Jets, Adam D'Apuzzo successfully continued his Bachelor studies in Law and Commerce at the University of New South Wales. Adam graduated from Trinity Grammar in 2004 with a UAI score of 95.3%, and has not let the demands of life as a full-time professional footballer override his academic ambitions.

Taliadoros acted as the PFA's inaugural Chief Executive in 1994 and 1995 (whilst still playing in the former National Soccer League), and served as PFA President from 1995 to 1998. He enjoyed an outstanding playing career, illustrated by 9 Socceroos appearances, 244 NSL games, 82 goals (leading goal scorer in 1992) and 2 NSL Championships (South Melbourne in 1991 and Marconi in 1993). At the same time, Taliadoros demonstrated educational excellence, obtaining professional business and accounting qualifications after leaving school and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) later in his playing career.