Football Tasmania program celebrates equality

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Football Tasmania has officially debuted its Equality and Respect in Sport program in an effort to facilitate greater opportunities for women in leadership within football.

The program will be delivered in partnership with Our Watch, a national leader in the primary prevention of violence against women and children.

Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley views the program as a gamechanger for women and girls involved in the World Game.

“With the highest level of female participation in the nation, promoting gender equality in football has been a priority for Football Tasmania for a number of years,” Bulkeley said.

“We are delighted to take our efforts to the next level thanks to this new partnership with Our Watch, who will be working closely with Football Tasmania and our football community on the delivery of the Equality and Respect in Sport program.

“In addition to continuing to make football more accessible for women and girls, we want to ensure that there are equal opportunities for women in leadership within football throughout all levels of the game.

“The program will involve training senior leaders across Football Tasmania in ‘Changing the Story through Sport’, as well as introducing a state-based Equality and Respect in Sport framework.

“This will also allow for us to provide support to clubs and associations for gender equality action plan development and self-assessment,” Mr Bulkeley said.

“A community champions program will build capacity and sustainability at a local level that will work into local communities and aid in understanding violence and gender equality, active bystander skills, child safety and responding to disclosures.

Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly values the important role sport has towards influencing broader societal attitudes and behaviours.

“Sport is ingrained in our culture, so clubs, administrators and players can play a powerful role in influencing attitudes and behaviours, shaping whether we accept or reject disrespect and violence towards women,” Kinnersly said.

“This grant is a positive step forward for making sure women and girls are treated as equals, both on and off the pitch. It helps normalise gender equality and respect for women, creating the foundations for a safer, and more inclusive experience within Tasmania’s sporting clubs.”

The Equality and Respect in Sport program is a result of Football Tasmania and Our Watch’s successful application to the Sport Australia Women Leadership in Sport program.

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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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