New facility to be built for South Australia’s high performance athletes

Liam Watson

In a first during its 39-year history, the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) will finally have a headquarters to call home. A purpose-built facility will identify, develop and support high performance athletes and programs.

The new facility is included in the State Budget 2021-22, where $49 million will go towards its construction, to be located at Mile End next to the existing Netball SA Stadium.

Premier Steven Marshall explains that the new facility is part of a record $17.9 billion infrastructure spend spanning the next four years and will open up approximately 200 jobs throughout the development.

“This Budget builds on the Marshall Liberal Government’s strong economic recovery plan, to create more jobs, expand health services and deliver record investment in education and infrastructure,” Premier Marshall said.

“This landmark Budget is helping secure SA’s growing global reputation as one of the safest and most attractive places in the world to live, work and raise a family and this significant investment continues to position our great state as a premiere sporting destination.”

Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Corey Wingard believes the introduction of SASI HQ will provide high-performance athletes access to new state-of-the-art training facilities and leading-edge integrated technologies to reach greater heights.

“SASI was Australia’s first state-based sports institute but has never had its own purpose-designed facility that is fit-for-purpose and for the past 21 years has operated out of the old Kidman Park High School,” Minister Wingard said.

“Despite that, South Australia has developed and produced some of the best athletes in the world and this investment will help build on that legacy.

“It will also help SASI to achieve its target of contributing at least 10% of Australia’s team medals at both the Olympics and Paralympics.

“This investment will also give our state greater opportunities to grow our economy by attracting national and international training camps and elite programs.”

The new SASI will feature the following:

  • Strength and conditioning gym capable of accommodating multiple sports and teams
  • Specially designed indoor court with smart technology
  • Sport specific ergometer training zones
  • Indoor bounding areas
  • Environment chamber for simulated heat, humidity and altitude stress training

Planning for the new facility will begin immediately, with construction hoped to start in 2022 and expected to be complete in mid-2023.

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Bentleigh Greens and Metricon Bring Local Business Community Together Through Networking Initiative

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Image Credit: One-Nil Media

Bentleigh Greens FC has reinforced its commitment to supporting its community beyond football, partnering with Metricon Homes to host a business networking evening designed to strengthen relationships between local businesses, sponsors and club stakeholders.

 

A unique setting for meaningful connections

Held inside one of Metricon’s display homes, the Bentleigh Greens Business Networking Night welcomed around 60 local business owners, club partners and community leaders for an evening focused on connection, collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Rather than a traditional function space, Metricon opened the doors of one of its display homes, creating a unique networking environment that highlighted how the space could be transformed into a premium venue while providing guests with a relaxed setting to build professional relationships.

The event reflects a growing trend across community football, where clubs are increasingly positioning themselves as platforms for business engagement and local economic development, alongside their role in delivering participation opportunities on the pitch.

Guests also heard from strategic futurist Marcus Barber, who delivered a presentation examining the growing influence of artificial intelligence on modern business. His insights encouraged attendees to consider how emerging technologies are reshaping industries and the importance of preparing for future change.

 

Creating value beyond sponsorship

While commercial outcomes were never the primary objective, the evening was designed to create long-term value by fostering meaningful relationships between businesses connected to the Bentleigh Greens community.

Early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with several attendees already establishing new contacts and beginning discussions around potential collaborations.

The initiative also highlights Metricon’s broader commitment to supporting local communities beyond residential construction. By partnering with Bentleigh Greens and providing the venue, the company helped facilitate an event that encouraged learning, networking and stronger community connections.

 

Football clubs as community business hubs

For community football clubs, initiatives such as these demonstrate how partnerships can extend beyond traditional sponsorship models. By creating opportunities for local businesses to engage with one another, clubs can strengthen their commercial networks while delivering tangible value to sponsors and the wider community.

As football clubs continue to explore new ways of engaging stakeholders off the field, events like the Bentleigh Greens Business Networking Night illustrate how sport can serve as a catalyst for meaningful business relationships and long-term community growth.

Football NSW builds life‑saving network as cardiac safety push expands

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has distributed 20 defibrillators to associations and regional clubs through its Every Beat Matters campaign, part of a broader push to improve cardiac emergency preparedness across the state’s football network.

Sixteen of the devices were presented to participating associations at the inaugural Football NSW Association Championships in Mudgee. A further four went to regional clubs: Cowra and District Soccer Club, Westside Panthers, Yerrinbool Bargo Soccer Club and Narooma Football Club.

The rollout builds on the Heartbeat of Sport AED Mapping Project, which is mapping defibrillator placement at sporting facilities across NSW with funding from the Minns Labor Government. Twelve football associations have joined the effort, including Eastern Suburbs, Manly Warringah, Granville, Southern Districts, Nepean, Northern Suburbs, Football Canterbury, Bankstown, Hills, Sutherland Shire, North West Sydney Football and Football South Coast.

Data collected through the mapping project is being fed into NSW Ambulance’s GoodSAM emergency response system and NSW Health’s public AED map, enabling first responders to locate nearby defibrillators in real time.

The initiative responds to a gap that had gone largely unexamined. More than 2,400 defibrillators have been deployed across NSW sports facilities through the Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program, which offers grants of up to $3,000 to eligible organisations. But a device not registered in emergency response systems provides significantly less value than one that is accurately mapped and immediately locatable.

The urgency is not abstract. At Doyalson Wyee Football Club, a 70‑year‑old player survived a sudden on‑field cardiac arrest because an AED was available on site. Survival rates drop by about 10 per cent for every minute without defibrillation.

Football NSW is also establishing a long‑term defibrillator register to track equipment distribution, access and maintenance across all 636 clubs and 31 associations. The Every Beat Matters campaign, supported by Toyota and St John Ambulance, aims to raise about $240,000 through a raffle to fund an initial rollout of 65 defibrillators to clubs currently without access, prioritising regional and lower socio‑economic areas.

The #HeartHealthMatters Program is delivering CPR and AED familiarisation training to sporting organisations, with a particular focus on regional communities where ambulance response times are often longer and volunteer bases smaller.

The ambition, in the words of project organisers, is straightforward: that no preventable death occurs on a football ground because the right equipment was not there, or could not be found.

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