Football NSW and Heartbeat of Football combine to improve heart health

Staff Writer

Football NSW and Heartbeat of Football have announced an all-important partnership centred on player welfare and safety, with a focus on heart health.

The alliance will raise awareness about heart health issues, encourage people to make positive health choices, and work to ensure a safe sporting environment for NSW football participants of any age.

Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge acknowledged the importance of the wider heart health issue and the vital role HOF has played.

“Hundreds of thousands of participants will take the football field on a weekly basis so it is absolutely paramount that our community understands the issue and can take preventative actions to protect themselves and their families,” he said.

“What Andy [Paschalidis] and the HOF team have achieved has been fantastic, and we are proud to have supported them in recent years.

“This partnership reinforces our commitment to providing the best possible health and safety resources and programs to the entire Football NSW family.

“We look forward to working with them on some exciting campaigns and initiatives over the coming years.”

HOF Founder Andy Paschalidis was appreciative of FNSW’s support in ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience that allows footballers to participate safely in the game for as long as possible.

“HOF has enjoyed the support of Football NSW from the start of our journey in 2016,” he said.

“With the last two interrupted seasons, it is now more important than ever for the key heart health messages, activities, and support to reach more people.

“This partnership evolves our relationship to grow and more widely serve the welfare of the football community in NSW – saving lives together.”

A ‘Rescue Ready Campaign’ has been initiated between both organisations that will help ensure clubs are ready and informed should they be required to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Both Football NSW and HOF will also be co-funding heart health testing at this Sunday’s ‘Festival of Football’ between Sydney Olympic and APIA Leichhardt FC.

Taking place at Belmore Sports Ground, with gates opening at 9:30am, the day will see the two iconic National Premier Leagues NSW clubs go head-to-head with the Under 20s, senior Men’s and Women’s and a special Legends match.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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