Lifelong family bond a source of pride for Filpo

Carl Filpo grew up around the East Perth Eagles, his family now remains heavily involved and he couldn’t be prouder not only with what's happening on the court in 2024, but with the way the entire club is flourishing.

It's pride above everything else that jumps into Filpo's mind when he thinks about his family's involvement at East Perth which dates all the way back to when his father built the Malaga Indoor Sports Stadium for them to play out of in the early 1990s.

That's where he would spend a lot of his childhood and if you fast forward to 2024, he is the head coach of the men's team for the Eagles in 2024, his wife Mia is the president of the association, and his sons Anthony and Nick are part of the men's team as well.

That's quite a legacy for the Filpo family over the course of more than 30 years now and Carl just wouldn’t know what life would be like without having the East Perth Eagles such a significant part of it.

New home of Peter Campbell Basketball Arena

To now be able to call the Peter Campbell Arena that has been newly built at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre as the home of the Eagles as of 2024 is something that brings a lot of memories and the sense of pride to the surface for Filpo.

He still fondly remembers the days at Malaga, has good memories from the old court at Morley and understands why the move to Mirrabooka was necessary for the last five years.

However, to now walk in and see the new stadium adorned with the red, white and blue Eagles coloured seating to top it off and Filpo can't help but feel enormous pride for how far the whole association has come.

"Pride is the big thing and I can't take the credit for it, it was actually a close friend of ours, Peter Campbell, who passed away recently who was the real catalyst and driver for that stadium," Filpo said.

"There was an enormous amount of work that he put into that but for myself and the family, it's an absolute feeling of pride to walk in and see the new stadium.

"I've been going there since I was young and even anyone else who remembers the old section at Morley, when they walk in now they see how world class and top level everything is. It's such a nice stadium to watch a game from, the atmosphere is great and we couldn’t be happier with how it's turned out."

Reward for efforts of so many people

It was Peter Campbell at the forefront of making the redevelopment of Morley Sport and Recreation Centre possible to welcome the Eagles back as of 2024, and Filpo can't help but reflect on his efforts and also the commitment to make it happen from the City of Bayswater to bring it to reality.

"It makes all the time and effort of people like Peter to see how it's turned out. I did initially start on the committee to lobby for it but I just couldn’t stretch myself far enough, and had to walk away which is where Peter took it on," Filpo said.

"We're now very proud of it and even the red, white and blue seats were a big thing. The City of Bayswater were really accommodating with things like that to help us fit it out to become a true Eagles home and they were great to work with.

"We've got some great support from them to make it happen and it's such a good fit, and hopefully we are doing something in return for them by activating the area, and bringing people along and our crowds have been getting better throughout the season."

Family connection to early years of Eagles

Seeing where East Perth is now provides Filpo with the chance to reflect on how far it's come and some of his early memories as a younger boy when his father was so instrumental in providing a new home at Malaga for the Eagles.

"My old man's thing was stadium and he was heavily into indoor cricket there for a while with stadiums he ran in Osborne Park, Balcatta and Morley," Filpo said.

"He decided one year that he felt the indoor cricket was starting to fade away a little and he wanted to get into basketball because he saw it as a growing sport. So that's when he got the stadium put together at Malaga and he set up basketball, netball, volleyball, indoor soccer and everything there.

"He spared no expense with it with full blown springwood courts and that was the big thing with it. He just did it properly and that made it attractive to go to and that's when East Perth came along to make that their home."

What he remembers is how state-of-the-art the facility was at the time and how much fun it was to be around it growing up.

"My understanding is that the old man helped the Eagles then be able to put a bit better of a team together once they were playing there, and he was right into it," he said.

"Guys like CJ Jackson, Steve Williams and Brian King all came on board at that time. That is still paying to this day because Brian was that link for us that led us to Lukas Milner because they both played at Boise State.

"So the old man helped looked over those sort of guys and he was heavily invested, and those are my memories of the old Malaga Indoor Sport Stadium, but what I remember the most was how elite our floor with the Tassie Oak used to make the springboard and glass hoops that was hard to find back then."

Personal memories of being around

Memories of spending time especially being driven around by the great Steve Williams are the sort of thing that lasts a lifetime.

"For the early 90s it was a fairly premium set up so they are my early memories as a kid going to watch guys like Steve and CJ play as the imports of the Eagles," Filpo said.

"The old man would bring them across and look after them, and I even remember Brian driving me to my school exams and take me around places. I have memories of that as well which shows that club and family crossover which was there then, and still is there now."

Getting back involved at Eagles

Filpo might have not had too much direct involvement for a few years, but he had been heavily involved in the club's in the East Perth district as a coach before coming on board at the Eagles when his sons Anthony and Nick began playing.

That ended up seeing him join the club's board, becoming a vice-president and then ending up as part of the coaching staff and ultimately assuming the head coaching role in 2023.

But it's fair to say basketball has always been in the blood and he wouldn’t be so heavily involved unless it was.

"It was probably when our eldest son started playing that I got back involved and that was after a few years away even though I had still hung around coaching kids at local clubs," Filpo said.

"I did some coaching at Ballajura Boomers and Spectres because I used to love being involved and would take a team on. Then I had a few years off when the kids were little but came back when they started about under-10s and started coaching for the Morley Rockets.

"I was one of the inaugural coaches there along with Conrad Francis, Don Balm and Alan O'Garr. The four of us started out coaching there and the president was Natalie who started the Morley Rockets and that club now has something like 80 teams.

"It's blown up into this huge association so I maintained by coaching through that and then moved into WABL and have done every age group from 12s to 20s and everything in between. It has been a lot of work but I love it at the same time."

Family's connection goes back to meeting

It's no surprise that the Eagles remain such a big part of the Filpo family considering that is where Carl and Mia met before going on to get married, build a family of four children together, dedicated themselves to East Perth and also start a successful business, CMTG, together.

The fact it all started at the Eagles just brings it all home for Filpo when he looks back on it.

"I met Mia at the club, that's how we met each other when we were about 17 so we're going back a lot of years now and the club is what started it all for our family," Filpo said.

"The good thing is that Nick has always been around WABL since he started as an underage kid as a nine-year-old. He was always one of the better players going through and his work rate is probably top tier and always has been.

"So in terms of the work he's put in I think he's getting the reward for that. He has also coached in the WABL and has done for a few years and Anthony has done similar. The boys have always been around the club and part of WABL, and seen them come through even before I was coaching.

"Anthony was involved on the 2018 squad as a young player so for him to still be around it shows a bit of loyalty and determination because he doesn’t always get a lot of minutes."

Eagles connection for current immediate family

When you consider that Carl is currently the head coach with his two sons on the team he is in charge of, and that his wife and his children's mother is the president of the association, and you get an understanding that the Eagles are quite significant to the life of the Filpo family.

"I feel just pride with the connection our family has with the club. I just don't know anything else and it's been part of my life since I was young," Filpo said.

"It's my third home after my business and our family home, and then I've got East Perth. It's just always been such a big part of my life and the fact that Mia is so passionate about it is amazing too.

"She is super clever and she has her MBA, she runs a business and is juggling about half a dozen things at once. She has everything at home with kids and everything as well, but her passion for it is something I've never seen anything like and she's able to bring her knowledge and business sense to it too.

"The organisation is now quite a big business so to be able to get her teeth into that manage it, she has already had quite a few wins along the way with some of the stuff she's been doing.

"It's just pride that we all feel that we can have such an impact on a club through volunteer and sometimes thankless hours, but to be so involved as a family is awesome because it also brings us all together."