Northern NSW Football’s flood support road trip delivers $40,000 worth of equipment

Staff Writer

A team of Northern NSW Football staff travelled north as part of a two-day road trip to deliver flood relief equipment to help clubs replace damaged or lost gear.

NNSWF Head of Football Development Peter Haynes, Community Football Manager Ross Hicks and Club Development Officer Phillip Andrews packed up three vans with $40,000 worth of equipment – including size three, four and five Mitre footballs, ball bags, cones, bibs, pop up goals, bownet goals, corner posts, boots and socks.

NNSWF’s major partner of community football – Newcastle Permanent – also provided goals and cones.

Haynes outlined NNSWF had worked hard to provide assistance to affiliated clubs hit hard by the floods.

“The road trip was just the latest part of the plan and the $40,000 worth of essential equipment I know will be well received and put to good use when clubs are ready to get back on the pitch,” Haynes said.

“NNSWF would like to extend its appreciation to Newcastle Permanent and Mitre for their generous contributions. And thank you to our suppliers including Umbro, Alpha, Summit and Eagle Sports who have provided equipment at cost or at a discounted rate.”

Hicks explained NNSWF understood the plight of clubs and the suffering they had endured.

“We have worked really closely with Steve Mackney at Football Far North Coast and Andrew Woodward at North Coast Football right from the outset,” he said.

“That ongoing communication and collaboration meant we understood the devastation was well beyond damaged infrastructure and lost equipment. Some members of the football community have lost everything.

“We want to assure everyone affected in the Football Far North Coast and North Coast Football regions that they are vital members of our football family. And NNSWF are here to tangibly assist clubs to restore their facilities and get back on the pitch when the time is right.”

The effect of flooding on South Lismore Celtic FC

Newcastle Permanent’s Chief Customer Experience and Delivery Officer Paul Juergens added the organisation was pleased to be able to contribute.

“Newcastle Permanent’s purpose is to be here for our customers and here for good. And that extends to our local communities impacted by these devastating floods,” he said.

“The recovery effort faced by these townships has been immense but we hope that by helping clubs replace essential equipment and get back to training we can get kids back on pitches and bring a little joy to local communities.”

The gear was transported from the Home of Football at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility to Maclean on Thursday, where the team met with representatives from North Coast Football clubs Maclean FC and Yuraygir United FC.

The team then travelled to Woodburn where they met Football Far North Coast General Manager Steve Mackney and Woodburn Wolves FC president Cameron Taylor-Brown.

The final stop for the day was Tumbulgum, with gear delivered to Tumbulgum Rangers SC and Uki Pythons.

After an overnight stay in Ballina, it was an early start on Friday to get to Dunoon to deliver gear for Dunoon United, Lismore Thistles, Lismore Workers FC, Kyogle FC and Lismore Richmond Rovers.

South Lismore was the next stop to meet State Lismore MP Janelle Saffin and Steve Towner from South Lismore FC.

There were three more visits to Italo Stars FC at North Lismore, Lismore Thistles and Casino RSM Cobras FC on Friday before heading back to Newcastle.

NNSWF CEO David Eland believes while the initial response had been to ascertain as much information as possible, the next phase of NNSWF’s Flood Recovery Plan was about tangible help and support.

“As the waters have receded the flood recovery has shifted gears,” he said.

“Our team and I have been in daily contact with Football Far North Coast and North Coast Football to ensure members of the football family are supported when it matters.

“Through this consultation we are now able to move from assessing the damage to rallying support and providing tangible assistance. This road trip that Pete, Ross and Phil have embarked on was just the next step.

“The $40,000 worth of equipment is part of our Flood Recovery Package worth more than $130,000. But we’ve also set up a Boot Drive and a fundraising portal through the Australian Sports Foundation which enables businesses and individuals to make tax free donations.

“And through our Flood Recovery Hub there is information for clubs on financial relief, support, fundraising, mental health and community initiatives.

“There are several grants and funding packages available to impacted clubs and our NNSWF team members have worked directly with government on behalf of clubs to access some packages. We will also engage a grant writing specialist to assist clubs with other opportunities.

“NNSWF is also working closely with Football Australia and Football NSW to lobby government at all levels for support because a coordinated approach provides focused lobbying to government decision makers that will maximise outcomes for clubs.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football West’s Female Football Week draws record engagement from Metropolitan Perth to Remote Kunurra

Avatar
Image Credit: Football West

Football West has wrapped up its 2026 Female Football Week with activations spanning metropolitan Perth, regional Western Australia and national online platforms, as participation data from the state’s most remote football association underlined the scale of demand for women’s and girls’ football beyond the city.

Kununurra Soccer Association, situated in the East Kimberley more than 3,000 kilometres from Perth, recorded 47 new female registrations aged 7 to 12 across the first two terms of 2026 through Football West’s Junior Girls United program, representing a 30 percent increase in female membership that coaches Hannah Grominsky and Evie Marchetti described as overwhelming.

“The support from the community has been simply awesome,” Grominsky said. “We’re up to nearly 50 registered girls now. The majority of them have never played before or aren’t part of our association, so it’s great to give them a positive football experience in a comfortable environment.”

The program, supported by the Federal Government’s Play Our Way grant, now runs every Wednesday and has extended football activity into the cooler months of the Kimberley calendar, a season when the association would not traditionally operate. The result is a cohort of players new to the game, in a region where access to organised sport has historically been constrained by geography, infrastructure and seasonality.

Recognition across the state

Back in Perth, Female Football Week’s centrepiece event was the Women in Football Celebrate You Breakfast at the Sam Kerr Football Centre, featuring two panel discussions covering officiating pathways, coaching development and advocacy for women in football.

Subiaco AFC NPL Women’s head coach Christine Coppin, who is one of few women coaching at her level in the region, said events like the breakfast were critical to making the pathway visible for others.

“I’d love to see more women coaches putting their hat in the ring, both at junior and senior levels, realising that there’s more to football than just playing,” Coppin said. “They can stay involved in the sport as they get older in different ways.”

A regional Women in Football Breakfast in Albany drew more than 30 attendees, while a Girls Day Out event in the same city attracted more than 50 participants aged 6 to 16 for a come-and-try introduction to the game, extending the week’s reach into the Great Southern and reinforcing Football West’s stated commitment to building women’s football outside metropolitan areas.

Recognising those who make it happen

The week’s awards, nominated by the WA public, recognised five individuals whose contributions to female football across the state were judged most significant over the past year. Cassandra Paxman of Albany Rovers FC was named Coach of the Year, Georgia Whitelaw of Great Southern JSA and Albany JSA took Referee of the Year, Karen Harris of Carramar Shamrock Rovers FC was named Volunteer of the Year, Georgia Aiesi of Mandurah City FC received the Player of the Year award, and Melissa Spillman of Football Futures Foundations was named Community Champion of the Year— a recognition she also received at the national level.

Football West Female Football and Advocacy Manager Sarah Carroll said the week had reinforced both the momentum and the responsibility facing the sport.

“Female Football Week continues to showcase the incredible passion and growing appetite for the women’s game,” Carroll said. “It’s a reminder of how important it is that we keep working together to drive the game forward.”

The contrast between a packed breakfast at the Sam Kerr Football Centre and a Wednesday afternoon program in Kununurra working around wet season schedules captures something essential about where women’s football in Western Australia actually lives. The growth is real, and it is happening in places the cameras do not always reach.

Tasmania’s State Budget Commits $350,000 to Football Facility Planning as $80 million Home of Football Moves Closer to Reality

Avatar
Image Credit: Football Tasmania

The Tasmanian State Government has committed $350,000 in seed funding for the next stage of planning for Football Tasmania‘s proposed Home of Football, moving the state’s most significant football infrastructure project closer to construction and signalling political recognition that demand for rectangular facilities in Tasmania has outgrown what currently exists.

The funding, confirmed in the 2026-27 State Budget handed down last week, sits within an almost $200 million investment in sport and recreation across the budget and forward estimates: a package the government describes as designed to improve access and participation for Tasmanians of all ages. The football allocation is listed alongside a $25 million community sporting infrastructure commitment at Kingborough, $12.5 million for new multipurpose indoor sporting courts at New Town Bay, and $8 million for the Domain Tennis Centre redevelopment.

Football Tasmania CEO Tony Pignata OAM welcomed the commitment as an acknowledgement of the structural gap between participation numbers and available infrastructure, particularly in the state’s south.

“The State Government’s delivery on this commitment shows us that they understand that demand outstrips supply for rectangular facilities in the state,” Pignata said. “If we are to continue to grow and develop future Matildas and Socceroos, we need to invest in the infrastructure our game so desperately needs.”

The proposed $80 million facility would include six full-sized pitches, three synthetic and three turf, alongside four five-a-side pitches, modern changerooms for both men and women, and dedicated training facilities. The design is intended to serve every level of the game simultaneously, from grassroots junior competitions through to national-level tournaments.

From grassroots to A-League ambitions

Football Tasmania has framed the facility’s purpose across a deliberately wide range of uses. At the community end, it would provide a permanent home for junior games and regional tournaments that currently compete for limited rectangular ground availability across the state. At the elite end, it would create the capacity to host national competitions including the Emerging Matildas and Emerging Socceroos Championships, flagship state competitions such as the Statewide Cup finals, and potentially, in time, an A-League team.

That last ambition is the most significant and the most distant. Pignata was measured but direct in raising it, situating a Tasmanian A-League club alongside the NBL’s Jackjumpers, the WNBL’s Jewels and the AFL’s Devils as part of the state’s emerging identity as a home for national sporting competition.

“One day down the track, we anticipate this would become home to our very own A-League team, so that we take our rightful place in the nation’s elite competition,” he said.

The pathway from planning funding to A-League admission is long and would require sustained political and commercial support well beyond the current commitment. But the logic is consistent with how football infrastructure investment has worked elsewhere in Australia. The facility comes first, and the competitive pathway follows. Without a purpose-built ground that meets the standards required for elite competition, the conversation about an A-League team cannot begin in earnest.

The equity dimension

The inclusion of modern women’s and men’s changerooms in the facility’s design carries more weight than it might appear. Community and semi-professional football facilities across Australia have historically been built to male standards, with women’s changerooms added as afterthoughts or not included at all. That inadequacy has been consistently identified as a barrier to female participation and to the hosting of women’s competitions at venues that cannot accommodate them properly.

A purpose-built facility that treats women’s infrastructure as a design requirement rather than a retrofit positions the Home of Football to serve the growth of women’s football in Tasmania in a way that existing facilities cannot. The state recorded 41,395 registered football participants in 2025, a number that has been growing and that the current rectangular facility stock was not built to support at this scale.

Additionally, the government’s Ticket to Play program, which provides eligible children with two vouchers worth up to $100 each for sporting participation, and the Ticket to Wellbeing program offering $100 vouchers to eligible seniors, represent indirect but meaningful support for football participation across the state’s communities.

Pignata also acknowledged outgoing Football Tasmania President Bob Gordon, who he said had dedicated almost a decade to the organisation and had been instrumental in lobbying for this and other facilities across the state.

The $350,000 planning commitment is a beginning. The $80 million facility it is intended to progress remains subject to further government investment and development approval.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend