Waverley City Soccer Club boosted by significant funding from the Victorian Government  

Avatar

Waverley City Soccer Club have received a $125,000 funding boost in the form of new and improved competition grade lighting, through the Victorian Government’s World Game Facilities Fund.

The installation of the state-of-the-art LED lighting at the club’s home ground at Milpera Reserve in Wantirna coincides with recent upgrades currently in progress at the facility, which includes the implementation of a new playing surface, irrigation system, fencing and goals.

Club president Kevin Tan explained to Soccerscene that the range of upgrades are extremely beneficial for the club.

“For us specifically, it’s fantastic that we now have the ability to train and play night games sporadically in the same location,” he said.

“Before this, we had to move our training sessions to a different ground and play games here.

“Being able to train at the ground you play may seem like a small thing but for us it saves us so much money. There are also other benefits such as having the juniors and seniors training together, so the juniors and seniors now see each other and interact – which is great for building a culture in the club.”

The club was formed in 2007 on the back of a group of mates who were looking to play games of football together on the weekends.

Since then, the club has expanded significantly with 172 members, fielding four senior men’s teams, two senior women’s teams and six junior teams.

The local community have played a huge role in the progress of the club and according to Tan, the new upgrades are for all to enjoy.

“In regards to our affiliation with the area, we want be more visible in the community; we can hold events and things like that to get to know our neighbours a bit more,” he said.

“The wider community can obviously use it, importantly it’s for them as well.

“Some of the early feedback we’ve received from members around the community is that they love the ability to walk around Milpera at night now.

“Previously there was no lights at all, so if they want to go for a walk at night in the area while we train, they can, and have, which is really good.”

Lisa Cooper, Mayor and Councillor of Knox City Council, spoke about the funding for the lighting upgrades: “There are so many new teams, and every team needs a suitable space to train and play. The Victorian Government’s World Game Facilities Fund is helping us keep up with growth in the sport locally.

“Training and match standard lighting enables more teams to train and play in the evening but it can be expensive, and the grants are helping us complete the upgrades more quickly than Council could find the budget for on our own.

“The LED lighting is energy-efficient and focuses the light on the pitch so it doesn’t spill into surrounding backyards,” Cooper concluded.

The funding boost has also been complemented by goodwill agreements with the local council, who have cancelled ground hire costs for Waverley City Soccer Club this season.

“Our council has been good with us; they’ve waived fees this season for ground fees,” Tan said.

“We’ve obviously had some financial struggles in the last year with Covid like a lot of clubs, so being able to save money while you can, is amazing for us.

“It is something that has allowed us to stabilise the club.”

In the near future, further upgrades are set for Milpera Reserve, including the introduction of portable change-rooms which will give the club the scope to eventually expand the number of boys’ and girls’ teams.

“It’s part of a 3-year plan which had been previously confirmed, but COVID has messed up the timeline a bit,” Tan said.

“Previously we had a really good chat with our former councillor Jackson Taylor and he was really big on improving our area’s sporting clubs (he eventually became a member of parliament for Bayswater) and really helped a lot with getting our grants sorted for us.

“The lights were meant to be done in the last year, but nothing really got done in 2020 because of the pandemic. I’m now not actually sure of what the rest of the timeline is, but I do believe they (portable change-rooms) are guaranteed for some time in the future, which is definitely exciting for us.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football Victoria and VicHealth partner on anti-racism program as community sport data reveals systemic problem

Avatar
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football Victoria has partnered with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation to roll out the Set The Standard initiative across the state’s football clubs, in a collaboration that signals a significant shift in how Australia’s most popular club-based sport is approaching racism and cultural exclusion at the grassroots level.

The partnership brings together the state’s peak football governing body and its primary health promotion agency around a shared finding that can no longer be treated as incidental. According to the 2025 report Enhancing the Capacity of Victorian Community Sport to Tackle Racism, 56 per cent of surveyed participants had experienced or witnessed racism in community sport. In a state where football draws participants from some of the most culturally diverse communities in the country, that figure represents a systemic failure the sport can no longer address through conduct policies alone.

Clubs that subscribe to the Set The Standard newsletter will be entered into a draw to win one of three $1,000 vouchers, available for equipment, facility improvements, events or other community initiatives. The incentive is designed to drive early engagement with a program whose ambitions extend well beyond a newsletter subscription.

What the Partnership Signals

Racism in sport has historically been treated as a conduct and governance issue, managed through complaints mechanisms that require incidents to be formally reported and tend to significantly undercount the actual prevalence of harm. VicHealth’s framing of racism as a public health problem repositions the entire conversation.

Experiences of racism are associated with measurable negative health outcomes including anxiety, depression and social withdrawal. When community sport, which governments and health agencies actively promote as a vehicle for physical and mental wellbeing, becomes a source of those same harms, the public health cost is direct and quantifiable.

Resources, not Rhetoric

For Football Victoria, the partnership brings something the governing body cannot provide on its own. VicHealth’s credibility, resources and public health framework give the initiative a foundation that a sporting organisation working alone would struggle to establish. Set The Standard offers clubs practical tools and guidance built around progress rather than perfection, which reflects a realistic understanding of how cultural change works inside volunteer-run community organisations.

The $1,000 vouchers are not a side note. Most community clubs operate on tight margins, depend on volunteer administrators and are already stretched managing growing participation demands. Finding room to invest in cultural development programs on top of everything else is difficult. Providing tangible resources directly addresses that constraint at the point where clubs are most likely to disengage.

The program also arrives at a consequential moment. Football in Victoria is absorbing significant participation growth following the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and sustained increases in junior registrations, bringing new communities into the game in large numbers. The 2025 data suggests the environments those communities are entering are not consistently safe or welcoming. Participation growth and cultural safety work need to move together. A sport that grows larger without becoming more inclusive has not actually improved the experience of the people playing it.

Two NPL VIC clubs receive funding boost from State Budget

Avatar
Image credit: Football Victoria

Following the announcement of the 2026 Victoria State Budget, Avondale FC and Hume City FC will both receive major backing for facility upgrades.

 

Valuable support for future projects

Avondale and Hume City now have immensely valuable financial support for infrastructure and facility upgrade projects.

Avondale will see an injection of $500,000 for lighting developments at its home ground, Avenger Park. Meanwhile, Hume City FC, will receive $250,000 to further improve its home ground, Nasiol Stadium, which opened in 2009.

Both clubs expressed their delight at the funding from the State Labor Government, and what the backing may bring to club facilities and overall development going forward.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Victorian Government and Sheena Watt for their support through this $500,000 lighting upgrade investment, which will have a lasting impact on our players, families and the wider Avondale community,” said Avondale Club President, Stephen Strano.

“We have hundreds of players across all age groups utilising these facilities each week, and these improvements will help create an even strong environment for excellence, participation, and community engagement,” outlined Hume City President, Ersan Gülüm.

As a result of these respective investments, both NPL VIC outfits appear set for incredibly opportunities to modernise, develop and strengthen their club infrastructure.

 

Lighting the path to a brighter future

The investments will see features such as lighting upgrades improve facility access for men’s and women’s teams, and LED scoreboards become part of a more modern matchday experiences going forward.

For both clubs, however, lighting upgrades are about more than keeping a pitch open late at night. Improved lighting is a means to a more accessible and supportive future in which both the men’s and women’s teams can utliise local facilities, and matchdays can take place in the excitement of playing ‘under the lights’.

And as Football Victoria CEO, Dan Birrell, highlighted, the improvements made to club facilities are benchmarks for the wider Victorian football community.

“Both Avondale and Hume City are pillars in the Victorian football landscape,” Birrell stated via press release.

“Professional level facilities like Avenger Park and Nasiol Stadium are critical for the development of Victorian football and Football Victoria welcomes the news that they will continue to improve thanks to the support of the Victorian State Government.”

 

More must follow

While the investments from the State Government come as welcome updates for these two clubs, there is still plenty more to be done to evenly develop facilities and infrastructure across Victoria’s football landscape.

Indeed, Avondale FC and Hume City FC are two fantastic community clubs who will no doubt put the funding towards impactful improvements.

But there are plenty more who still need external backing to build infrastructure not just for now, but for future seasons to come.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend