Tasmanian Liberals commit to $10 million facility investment

Liam Watson
A majority Gutwein Liberal Government has promised to invest $10 million towards facility upgrades across four locations.

A majority Gutwein Liberal Government has promised to invest $10 million towards facility upgrades across four locations, promoting increased participation for community sport.

There are over 38,000 Tasmanians participating in football, so facility upgrades are vital for continual growth for the game. Despite Tasmania missing out on holding games for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the facilities investment would benefit the state’s push to host base camps for international sides coming to Australia.

The following facilities will be part of the investment to reaffirm Tasmania’s commitment to football:

Valley Road, Devonport – The home of Devonport Strikers with 170 registered players will see new funding go towards a new building, additional pitch, new changerooms and lighting.

Birch Avenue, Launceston – The home of Launceston United with 633 registered players is one of the largest clubs in Tasmania. New funding will assist with improved drainage, safety fencing & new and enhanced lighting.

Churchill Park, Launceston – The home of the Northern Tasmanian Junior Soccer Association has 1878 registered players and hosts the annual Launceston Tournament – drawing 1000 junior players to the facility. Funding will deliver new lighting, new changeroom and clubrooms.

Lightwood Park, Kingborough – The home of Kingborough Lions and 552 registered players is the largest club in southern Tasmania. Additional funding will welcome new changerooms and clubrooms.

“Today’s announcement is a huge win for Tasmanian football,” Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley said.

“We’re extremely grateful to Premier Gutwein and Minister for Sport Jane Howlett for their continued support of the World Game in Tasmania.

“By recognising the magnitude of this opportunity, they have made sure tens of thousands of Tasmanians will benefit from the legacy of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, despite Launceston missing out on hosting tournament matches.

“Football is Tasmania’s most played team sport, and we are proud to lead the nation as the state with the highest proportion of female players in Australia at 28 per cent.

“We know that whenever a Women’s World Cup is played, participation spikes the following year – with the 2023 World Cup being held in Australia we’re expecting this increase to be through the roof, particularly among women and girls.

“In addition to positioning Tasmania to welcome the world’s best players for training, the upgrades to Churchill Park, Birch Avenue, Valley Road and Lightwood Park will also ensure football has the necessary infrastructure to accommodate more growth, and make sure the World Game is Tasmania’s game for many years to come.”

Tasmanians will head to the polls on May 1 for the state election, where a majority Liberal Government will be able to begin the upgrades process.

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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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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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