The 2025 Academy Victory Medal – proudly presented by Richard Smith – took place at the Olympic Room in AAMI Park on Tuesday night.
The event is a celebration of the Academy season, with players and staff joined by proud parents and notable club dignitaries in the room.
The Academy’s highest individual honour, the Victory Medal, is presented to the player of the season. It is determined by a coach’s vote, with players earning votes each week for their gameplay, effort, teamwork, and display of Victory’s values.
Jack Mihailidis was the recipient of the Senior Victory Medal, honoured with the award after a standout campaign with the Senior NPL team in Victoria’s top-flight, in which he scored 3 goals and contributed with 3 assists across 21 games.
After joining the Club in 2021, Mihailidis progressed through the Academy and made his debut for the A-Leagues team at Marvel Stadium against Wrexham AFC prior to his elevation into the A-League Men’s program for the 2025/26 A-Leagues season.
The Junior Victory Medallist was Keigo Shimokawa, a player who has risen rapidly through the ranks since joining the club at the end of 2023.
The 15-year-old has represented both Victoria and New Zealand at a state and international representative level, while also recently featuring for the A-League Men’s side in the recent pre-season friendly against Adelaide United.
The Archie Thompson Award honours our all-time leading goalscorer and is awarded to the best attacking player in both our Senior and Junior academies, with a combination of goals, assists and performances taken into consideration in determining the winner.
Patrick Wall was the recipient of the Senior Archie Thompson Award after a breakout season in which the 18-year-old netted 10 goals and contributed 10 assists across both Senior NPL and U23s teams.
After joining the Club at the end of 2022, the boyhood Victory supporter has performed well across several Academy teams and recently made debuting for the first-team in the Wrexham AFC friendly at Marvel Stadium.
15-year-old Harper Zwiers took out the Junior Archie Thompson Award after scoring 25 goals across several of our teams in the Junior Academy.
Originally joining Victory in late 2023, the in-form attacker was recently named Player of the Match in the winning U15s JBNPL Grand Final.
The Mitchell Langerak Award was presented to the individual recognised as the top performing goalkeeper in both the Senior and Junior Academy, and was this year presented to the recipients by Mitch himself.
17-year-old Oskar Von Schrenk won the Senior Mitchell Langerak Award and is a three-time state representative who has represented the Joeys and is a regular at A-League Men’s team training.
Originally joining the Club at the end of 2021, Von Schrenk excelled for the Club’s U23s this season and is a previous recipient of the Junior Mitchell Langerak Award, which this season was won this year by Luca Thomas.
Thomas is a 16-year-old who joined Victory at the end of 2022 and has been a standout performer across all four Junior Academy teams during his time at the Club.
Finally, the Leigh Broxham Award is given to the Senior and Junior Academy player who has consistently and continuously demonstrated the Victory values through the season, an award which recognises one of the Club’s and A-League’s most respected players.
Senior NPL team captain Damien Bozinovski was honoured as the Senior Leigh Broxham Award winner after a standout season at the heart of Victory’s defence, where his leadership qualities were ever-present throughout the season.
Joining Victory at the end of the 2021 season, he has been a regular standard-setter who has now represented the Club across 54 Senior NPL league games.
Callum Lehmann took out the Junior Leigh Broxham Award, demonstrating energy, enthusiasm and a strong desire to empower those around him.
The Academy’s youngest player, at just 12 years old, Lehmann joined the Club at the end of last year and memorably scored a goal on debut after missing out on much of the first half of the season through injury.
The Club would like to thank all of its Academy players, their parents, the coaches and support staff who supported our Academy programs throughout 2025.
