Let’s Light Up Football provides key funding

Liam Watson

There’s not long left to go for Football NSW clubs to apply for funding as part of the Let’s Light Up Football campaign.

This is a campaign which is open to Football NSW affiliated clubs and associations, together with local councils and schools. They are able to apply and receive funding which will go towards improving lighting for community pitches across the state.

Football NSW has provided all the relevant details for anyone who has yet to apply for funding which will enhance the ability to train and play under safe conditions:

“The fund will provide up to 20% of a floodlighting project with a maximum of $20,000 available per project. The project will also need confirmed approval from the relevant local government authority as part of the eligibility criteria.”

“Once again $300,000 worth of funding will be made available to Member Associations and Clubs with the opportunity to upgrade lighting to a safe and suitable standard for the community and most importantly increase the capacity of open space through the provision of night training and games, throughout NSW.”

Football NSW Chief Executive Stuart Hodge spoke about the key campaign which still has a couple weeks to go.

“We are excited to once again inject funding into the local football community across NSW,” he said.

“The recent state-wide facilities audit highlighted that 32% of the fields in NSW don’t have floodlighting and 42% of fields with lighting are below the minimum Australian Standards of 50 lux. This campaign aims to address this issue by providing participants with a safe and welcoming environment”.

This campaign has been open by Football NSW since the 30th of April and closes on the 15th of July at 4pm.

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Peter Kokotis: South Melbourne Was Never Built to Finish Second

Staff Writer

South Melbourne football director, Peter Kokotis, has just one complaint following the club’s historic Australia Cup triumph last Saturday: that the team he has played a primary role in building may not have had due time to take it all in.

As those players – just a week on from becoming the first semi-professionals to win the national Cup – headed to Sydney for their next assignment, Kokotis took a rare moment to himself. Remaining in Melbourne, he reflected on what the achievement meant to the club he started supporting as an eight-year old in 1979, his uncle earlier a signatory to their 1959 establishment.

‘As was common with a lot of young Greek boys, our fathers were of a different generation. My father was in the hospitality industry, always working nights. So that two, three hours with him every second Sunday was gold to me. It was my time with dad,’ Kokotis told Soccerscene Unfiltered.

‘Once we dropped to the State League in 2005 some of us stayed, but a lot left or didn’t come at all, or went off to Melbourne Victory. We went from an NSL powerhouse to a club struggling to compete.

‘The last seven days [as we spoke] haven’t been normal. It’s been an incredible outpouring of emotion, gratitude from all over the community with people reaching out. It’s been really refreshing and lovely to listen to people’s stories of how it’s impacted them.’

From the gloom, South Melbourne now finds itself in its strongest position of the post-NSL era. Once a FIFA-licensed player agent, Kokotis has served as South’s general manager, a board member, and the past two seasons as senior football director – an immense task, given the relentless schedule the club is undertaking.

Off-field, they’re banging at the gates for an A-League license, a status they’ve been denied numerous times over the past 20 years. This time does feel different; with the A-League stagnating and South packing the stands on Cup final night, their top-flight exclusion looks ever-more incongruous with the broader health of the game.

While their preparedness to step up can’t just hinge on a result here or there, Kokotis is aware their on-field showings do supplement their attractiveness as a proposition – significantly.

‘We are evolving as a club, and there are many things we do outside of the senior team that are about cultural connection, the wider community. We’re not just a team that cares about trophies and silverware,’ he says.

‘But South is not a club built on coming second… and [winning] is my area. I feel the responsibility, the legacy and the history of the club, and all the success and great people that have come before us.

‘I feel obligated to maintain the machine and keep it going. This time is unique with what’s going on in the football landscape, and success now is very important.’

Catch the full chat with Peter Kokotis on Soccerscene Unfiltered: from helping Brazilian flair reach Australia and backing the unfancied Sinisa Cohadzic, to the top-down versus bottom-up growth debate, and plenty more…

Football NSW: South Coast grassroots clubs receive welcome funding boost

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Three Football South Coast clubs are the latest recipients of the NSW Government’s ‘Active Regional Communities’ package, a community program which seeks to invest in facilities in the hope that safer, more accessible playing environments will lead to increased participation across the board.

The purpose of the package, as per Service NSW’s website, is to enhance liveability, resilience and long-term sustainability in rural NSW by championing events that support social cohesion and improve amenities in the region.

It is comprised of 3 streams:

1.⁠ ⁠Regional Events and Partnerships – with grants of up to $2 million available for either the development of new events, or to improve on existing events, via upgraded infrastructure.

2.⁠ ⁠Community Participation – grants of up to $1 million, with a focus on greater accessibility. This funding could go towards sports grounds, safe transport and supervision, or staffing for events that boost local wellbeing and connection.

3.⁠ ⁠Local Priorities – Covers grants of up to $100,000, targeted at upgrading safety and equipment, hiring and training skilled staff, introducing and funding new groups, and/or increasing the frequency and range of existing activities.

On October 9, Football NSW announced upgrades would be received by Fairy Meadow United FC, Woonona Football Club and Albion Park White Eagles Soccer Club, as part of a comprehensive $7 million investment which will support a total of 24 community-led projects across the South Coast.

The clubs have secured $177,566, $18,182 and $46,297 respectively, which will support improvements to club awnings, goalposts and ball stop fences  in a bid to enhance matchday experience safety.

Football NSW’s Infrastructure and Club Development Coordinator Lachlan Mainwaring congratulated the clubs on this essential period of growth.

Mainwaring described the regional funding projects as ‘fantastic examples’ of how the impact of grassroots investments can reverberate through wider communities, assisting players, volunteers and families alike.

To ensure the sport remains sustainable for future generations, Football NSW welcomes ongoing partnership between clubs, association, government and councils.

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