$750,000 facilities boost for Noranda City

Staff Writer

Noranda City have several reasons to celebrate their 45th anniversary season, thanks to hard work behind the scenes to develop the club.

Members are set to enjoy brand new changeroom facilities at their Noranda Sports Complex home, with a $750,000 investment from the Federal Government.

An upgrade to the existing two changerooms will extend the pre-existing building to include four new accessible changerooms – two for females and two for match officials.

The new facilities will increase participation at the club for women and girls, boost wider membership numbers and cater to users at the neighbouring Morley Noranda Recreation Centre.

Noranda City President Shaun Ennis views the project as one that would make a big difference in attracting and retaining members.

“Our club has been going through tremendous growth, and to allow us to go to that next level at Noranda City Football Club, we need these changerooms to accommodate more female participants,” he said.

News of this investment aligns with Football Australia’s #Equaliser campaign, an initiative supporting the Community Facilities pillar of its Legacy ’23 Plan. This aims to deliver adequate female-friendly facilities across the country and shine a spotlight on the urgent need for female-friendly facilities.

“The support in upgrading facilities plays a vital role in providing infrastructure and playing platforms to meet the increasing surge of female participation at clubs,” Football West Female Football Manager Sarah du Plessis said.

“It is fantastic for Noranda City FC to be a recipient of this grant and I look forward to seeing the new developments positively impacting the club and community football.”

Noranda City

Laying the platform for an investment like this, Noranda City has been immersed in a range of club development activities to help build a stronger club. These include:

  • Completing the Football Australia National Club Development Program and Football West Participation Agreement
  • Building an engaging new website for current and future members
  • Promotion of the Healthway’s Think Mental Health message on all training kits to raise mental health awareness
  • Implementing resources from the Football West Club House for good governance
  • Involvement in the United Reds Football League inclusive program

“Noranda City has been committed to becoming the best club it can be off-the-field. Congratulations to Shaun Ennis, the committee and all volunteers because these are the rewards for hard work,” Football West Club Engagement Lead Abid Imam said.

Ennis added:

“The National Club Development Program was a fantastic exercise and we encourage every club to consider doing this with Football West as there is a lot that can be improved at every club.”

“We were excited to learn that by working with Football West over the past six months we scored a four out of five, which was fantastic to see.

“One major benefit we found was it allowed us to connect with the Healthway Think Mental Health program, which our club has supported this year by having this on our training gear. Thank you again for your support.”

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

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.

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