La Liga and UC partnership to professionalise the industry

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Representatives from La Liga and the University of Canberra (UC) shared their intentions to professionalise the local sports industry through their partnership at a webinar on Thursday night.

La Liga’s educational department, the La Liga Business School and the University of Canberra announced a collaborative agreement last week. The partnership will see La Liga Business School and the University of Canberra work on educational projects together.

Speaking at the ‘Beyond 2020: Professional Football Strategy – A discussion with La Liga’ webinar, LaLiga’s delegate in Australia and New Zealand, Glen Rolls said that it was exciting to be able to partner with the University of Canberra in La Liga’s first partnership in education in Australia.

“We certainly look forward to developing more programs to help … professionalise the industry moving forward,” he said.

“It’s great to be able to share our knowledge in each of these markets but we also want to be able to learn, to be able to grow as an organisation itself. So, there is certainly some key learnings that we can also learn as an organisation from the local football industry here.”

The webinar was the first event held by La Liga and the University of Canberra since the partnership was announced.

University of Canberra Academic and former FIFA Assistant Referee Allyson Flynn said that the university is developing a robust sporting reputation worldwide.

“UC is excited to partner with the La Liga Business School to achieve the objectives of the La Liga’s international development strategy,” Flynn said.

“There are several synergies that arise through the aim of professionalising sports management education and the local sports industry.

“The university is well equipped to co-develop and deliver material with our industry partners such as Capital Football.

“This partnership reaffirms UC is the home of sport and UC’s place as a leader and innovator in sports management education.”

Capital Football CEO Phil Brown and Villarreal C.F Business Development Manager Mar Llaneza also spoke at the event.

Phil Brown said that the partnership would help the sports industry both in Canberra and across Australia.

“I think it’s a great opportunity especially for the young, up and coming sports administrators that might be able to access some learning from some of the best in the world in a partnership with the University of Canberra,” he said.

 

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

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