Diversity and Inclusion Grant announced by ESFA for Association Clubs

Avatar
Eastern Suburbs Football Association (ESFA) announced the finalisation of a Diversity and Inclusion Grant for its local Association Clubs.

New South Wales’ Eastern Suburbs Football Association (ESFA) announced the finalisation of a Diversity and Inclusion Grant for its local Association Clubs.

Acclaimed to be the ESFA’s Diversity and Inclusion Grant is a first for a local grassroots association in NSW, the grant will fund sport and physical activity events for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups within the ESFA Community.

Specifically, the grant is seeking to support projects that are aimed at the following:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
  • Newly arrived migrants and refugees, or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups’
  • Women’s football
  • People with a physical and/or intellectual disability
  • LGBTIQA+ communities

The grant reaffirms the ESFA’s dedication to developing football for the entire community – irrespective of age, colour, gender and disability.

Furthermore, the announcement represents a significant aspect of the ESFA’s key strategic pillars for 2021-24. These pillars outline a focus on delivering football which is not just of a high-quality standard, but football that is accessible to the entire Eastern Suburbs community in order to ensure that more members of the area are encouraged to be a part of the game.

ESFA Director Lisa Thorn explained the reasoning behind the grant by reiterating what the association stands for.

“This is an important mechanism to promote the growth of football for all,” she said.

“At ESFA we believe it is important that sporting bodies reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of, and that they ensure that everybody has access to the beautiful game.

“This program supports people who are historically less likely to participate within ESFA competitions and will help build a resilient, cohesive and harmonious ESFA community.”

President of the ESFA, Nigel Singh, acknowledged the instrumental role football plays in fostering community and connectedness, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.

“The events of last season highlighted how important football is beyond just the obvious physical benefits,” he said.

“Football establishes a sense of community, and it provides an avenue to form deeper connections with people we might not ordinarily interact with.

“We believe this program will allow our Clubs to continue the fantastic job they are doing in growing the game and in highlighting that participating within ESFA is about more than just football.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Avatar
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

Avatar
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.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend