Photo:  Jake Van Der Mey joined Olympia Warriors in July from South Melbourne [PlessPix]

Jake Van Der Mey has had a positive impact on Olympia Warriors since joining the club from South Melbourne Hellas on at the end of May.

The tall 19-year-old central defender had a shock initiation to the Southern Premier League when Olympia lost 2-0 to Glenorchy Knights at KGV Park in his first game for his new club.

Photo:  Jake Van Der Mey on the attack against Beachside recently [PlessPix]

But, things looked up from there and Van Der Mey has been an integral part of the Olympia side that has had three wins, three draws and four losses in the league since his arrival, as well as two cup wins, which propelled the side into this coming Saturday’s Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy final.

He has scored two goals in 12 appearances for Olympia and is looking forward to the Cup Final, which is scheduled for KGV Park at 6.30pm on Saturday.

“It’ll be a tough match against South Hobart, but I reckon we can give them a good show and I reckon we can snatch a trophy this season,” Van Der Mey said confidently.

Van Der Mey comes from Eden on the south coast of New South Wales, where he played in a local under-12 competition.

He moved with his family to Mildura and represented Country Victoria in the under-14 age group before being accepted at the Victorian Institute of Sport.

He had been at South Melbourne for three years before the move to Olympia in July this year.

Photo:  Jake Van Der Mey takes a tumble as he puts everything into his game against Beachside [PlessPix]

“I was told by Ange Dallas that they wanted me to gain senior experience and that a few senior clubs were interested in me,” Van Der Mey said.

“One of those clubs was Olympia Warriors and it sounded like a good move.

“I could continue training with South Melbourne during the week and get to play senior football in Tasmania with Olympia on weekends.

“It’s been really challenging, surprisingly.

“At first, I thought it would be a bit easy, but it turned out rather hard playing for Olympia, especially given the situation we were in.

“Every week was a tough match and I think I’ve learned a great deal playing for Olympia.”

Van Der Mey was always confident that Olympia would avoid relegation.

“I think we were confident, and when we got the three points against Beachside the first time, I thought it would be all uphill from there,” he said.

“The team has been gradually improving each week and it’s fantastic now that we can say we’re not going down.”

The 3-1 win over Beachside a couple of weekends ago decided the relegation issue, much to the relief of Olympia’s fans, who attended the game at Sandown park in considerable numbers.

“We were a bit sluggish at first and we played a lot of long balls, which I think was unnecessary,” Van Der Mey said.

“But, once we started to knock the ball around, it turned out we were all over them and I think we deserved to win.”

Van Der Mey is a big fan of Olympia’s artificial pitch at Warrior Park and said it helps the team’s style of play.

Photo:  Olympia coach Franco Previdi (left) with his South Melbourne recruit, Jake Van Der Mey, after the win over Beachside [PlessPix]

“It promotes good football,” he said.  “We want to be able to knock the ball around and play it on the deck.

“It’s hard if you have a surface that’s all muddy, like it was at Beachside’s ground.

“The pitches in Melbourne aren’t the best.”

Van Der Mey is in the second year of a university degree in nutrition and he has high hopes for his football career next season.

“I aim next year to play for South Melbourne or another Victorian Premier League club at senior level,” he said.

“My aim at the start of the year was to get into the Melbourne Victory or Melbourne Heart youth team, so I still hope something comes out of that.

“I want to at least play senior VPL football next year.”

I am sure all Tasmanian football fans have been impressed by Van Der Mey’s commitment, sporting behaviour, modesty and footballing skill since he came here to play with Olympia.

He is an exemplary role model and a wonderful advertisement for South Melbourne and, indeed, Victorian football.