Graham Coe Pavilion project boosts Southern Tablelands Football Association

Avatar
FNSW

Cookbundoon Pavilion has undergone the final stages of its development, with clubs hailing from the Southern Tablelands Football Association (STFA) set to benefit.

Councillors in August agreed to name the building as the Graham Coe Pavilion, in honour of his strong contribution to the sport and the formation of the STFA.

Included in the new pavilion is six change rooms, a function room, canteen, officials change rooms, public amenities, storeroom, office and an undercover veranda.

Goulburn Mulwaree Council Mayor Bob Kirk acknowledged the significance of satisfying the growth of football interest and participants in the area.

“Football is perhaps the largest sport in our region based on player numbers, and this upgrade to provide essential facilities such as change rooms for our female players was overdue,” he said.

“I am pleased to see it now completed to a high standard, and I hope to be able to officially open it soon once restrictions are eased.

“It would be great to see the facilities utilised in 2021, so I hope the STFA are able to complete their finals series as planned.”

Southern Tablelands Football Manager Craig Norris reflected that the association was excited to get underway in its use of the new pavilion.

“The addition of change rooms and in particular for our girls is huge for the sport and will be a game changer,” he said.

“Female participation in Football in our region is on the rise, with nearly a third of all our participants now being females which is fantastic.”

$572,884 was obtained for the project, through the Federal Government Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, with Goulburn Mulwaree Council also contributing $500,000.

Females will have access to six changerooms to use before and after games, rather than changing in cars and behind trees.

Inclusive football facilities are one of the five key infrastructure priorities from the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy. This area focuses on increasing and improving gender-neutral player and referee change rooms.

With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup less than two years away, infrastructure upgrades such as this new amenity at Cookbundoon will allows Southern Tablelands to cater for the expected increase in females playing 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