Regional NSW clubs gain over $1 million in funding

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Funding FNSW

Over $1 million in funding has been delivered to regional venues, with Round 1 of the NSW Government’s Regional Sport Facility Fund.

The NSW Government has committed $50 million to the Regional Sport Facility Fund over two years, helping to create spaces and facilities that enable communities to enjoy and take part in sport.

The fund has been designed to give organisations quality sport infrastructure, to cater for the current and future needs of the community.

Minister for Sport Natalia Ward said the projects would keep communities healthy and active whilst leading a sports infrastructure construction blitz.

Football South Coast and the Shoalhaven District Football Association were two organisations to get funding. This successfully went towards one amenity renewal at Albion Oval and an upgrade in floodlighting at Bernie Regan Sporting Complex.

Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge was delighted by the NSW Government’s decision to assist in the upgrading of facilities in Regional NSW.

“I applaud the NSW Government for providing this much needed funding to Regional NSW, he said.

“With the FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in 2023 infrastructure projects such as these will ensure that football is well equipped to cater for the increase in female participants over the few years.

“The funding received supports the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy that was released by Football NSW and Northern NSW Football last year.

“The three projects directly relate to the five key pillars of the strategy, primarily Improving existing venue capacity and Inclusive football facilities.

“Only one in five amenity buildings across NSW are gender neutral.

“In NSW 46% of all playing fields do not have sports lighting or have lighting below 50 lux which is the minimum Australian Standard for training.”

The successfully funded projects will ensure that coaches, volunteers, referees and players (of all abilities) are able to enjoy their football experience well into the future.

A full list of successful recipients from the Regional Sports Facility Fund – Round 1 can be found here.

Applications for Round Two of the Regional Sports Facility Fund will open shortly.

Clubs and organisations looking to apply for funding in Round 2 should contact Daniel Ristic from the Facilities and Advocacy Unit at Football NSW.

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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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