Football Victoria recognised at Pride in Sport Awards

Liam Watson

Football Victoria (FV) has been recognised as a Bronze tier organisation at the recent 2021 Australian Pride in Sport Awards.

The awards were able to present the results of the Australian Pride in Sport Index, a national benchmarking tool used to assess LGBTQ inclusion within Australian sport. The Pride in Sport Awards, held on the 13th of April at the Hyatt Regency Sydney, was hosted by ABC journalist and Twenty10 Board Member Mon Schafter.

Pride in Sport is Australia’s first and only sporting acceptance program specifically designed to assist sporting organisations with LGBTI inclusion.

FV’s recognition is a result of the member federation’s continued efforts to promote inclusion and equality within football and the wider community. This announcement of FV as a Bronze tier level organisation marks the highest honour that they have received from Pride in Sport to date.

Executive Manager Growth and Inclusion Karen Pearce shared her delight with the outcome, outlining how FV will strive to build on this achievement heading into the future.

“This recognition is a testament to FV’s dedication to truly make football for all. As an organisation we have continuously worked hard to ensure that we are championing inclusion and are at the forefront of diversity,” she said.

“Everyone at FV is immensely proud of this achievement and we will use this as inspiration to continue to develop and set a strong example for the future.”

As part of the 2021 Pride in Sport Recipients, they marked a milestone with five organisations reaching gold status – the highest benchmark level. They were BlocHaus Port Melbourne, Cricket Australia, MQ Sport, RMIT University Sport and Tennis Australia.

The Australian Pride in Sport Awards delved into multiple areas of sporting organisations and beyond, where they also acknowledged other achievements made by coaches, role models, media outlets and others. For anyone mentioned, their contribution has lead towards greater inclusion of people with diverse sexualities and genders.

FV’s commitment to inclusion was strengthened further when the 2021 Pride Football Victoria Cup took place in Melbourne on April 20. The two competing teams were Melbourne Rovers and Victoria Police who battled it out for a 5th title.

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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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