WestInvest a facility game changer in Western Sydney

Staff Writer
WestInvest
Image credit: Football NSW

Clubs in Western Sydney are reaping a facility transformation thanks to the NSW Government’s $5 billion WestInvest program.

Facilities, as well as communities, will receive improved and more easy-to-use resources that form a transformational infrastructure project as a whole.

In total, over $333 million is being invested into facilities where football is or will be a key user of the facility.

Among the clubs to see positive change are Nepean, Southern Districts, Macarthur, Hills, and Canterbury.

The projects go towards upgrading amenity buildings to ensure changerooms are female friendly, natural turf field refurbishments, new indoor multi-sport indoor centres for the Futsal community, synthetic fields, and completely new venues.

Football NSW CEO John Tsatsimas said via press release:

“Investment into infrastructure is critical for the largest team-based sport in NSW.

“Only 25% of football changerooms across NSW are female friendly, this injection of funding will help increase this percentage.

“Football demand is already exceeding facility supply, the funding from WestInvest will ensure boys and girls across Western Sydney won’t miss out on playing football.

“We’d like to thank the NSW State Government for their continued support.”

Full details of projects per council are listed below:

Blue Mountains

  • $1.6 million for Blue Mountains City Council to deliver the $1.8 million upgrade of South Lawson Park which will convert a former golf course into a new district level park.

Burwood

  • $2.7 million for the Henley Park Sports Field Upgrade which will revitalise two aged sports fields to improve sport and recreational facilities

Campbelltown

  • $16.7 million for Campbelltown City Council to deliver the Sport and Health Centre of Excellence at Leumeah, in partnership with Western Sydney University, the Macarthur Bulls, Wests Tigers and the South-West Sydney Academy of Sport;
  • $2.8 million for Campbelltown City Council to deliver the Amenities Upgrade Eschol Park Sporting Complex

Camden

  • $21.3 million to deliver the Scalabrini East – Pat Konista Active Open Space and Community Facilities. This project will deliver essential sports, community, green and open space infrastructure in Leppington;
  • $14 million for the Cut Hill Reserve Sports Field Redevelopment project that will renew 18.5 hectares of public open space to deliver new recreation opportunities.

Cumberland

  • $53.7 million for Cumberland Council to deliver the New Hyland Road Sporting Complex into a precinct for indoor and outdoor sport including netball, AFL, football, cricket, baseball, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, basketball, volleyball and badminton;

Fairfield

  • $6.3 million for Fairfield City Council to deliver the $6.5 million Brenan Park project which will deliver more spaces for sports and adventure play for all ages.
  • more than $28 million in WestInvest funding will go towards the $46.5 million Fairfield Showground Stage 2 – Indoor Sports Centre.
  • $16 million for Fairfield City Council to upgrade the Endeavour Sports Park with a new synthetic field, sized for two soccer pitches, an AFL or a cricket pitch;

Hawkesbury

  • $9.8 million for the Hawkesbury City Council to deliver the Tamplin Field Redevelopment project which will include a new synthetic field with off-field grassed spaces to enable games and events through all weather conditions.
  • $4.6 million towards the $9.87 million Fernadell Park and Community Facility development project to deliver new sporting facilities to encourage women and young people to get active.

Hills

  • $1 million for the Hills Shire Council to deliver the Fred Caterson Reserve – Fields 1, 2 & 3 Upgrade and Refurbishment project in Castle Hill

Parramatta

  • $3.8 million for the Max Ruddock Reserve Amenities Modernisation with viewing platform project to upgrade a 50-year-old building to support growth in local sport.
  • $5.6 million for the City of Parramatta Council to deliver the North Granville Community Open Space Upgrade project which will upgrade FS Garside Park and construct a natural turf football field and install new sports field lighting, seating, and a regional sized playground.
  • $8.7 million for the City of Parramatta Council to deliver the Strengthening the Heart of Play project in North Parramatta

Penrith

  • $106.7 million for Penrith City Council to deliver the Indoor Multi Sports Facility project in Claremont Meadows.
  • $19.1 million for Penrith City Council to deliver the Cook Park Precinct Sport, Play, Grandstand & Mixed Recreation project in St Marys. The project will include a new amenities building, extended grandstand with spectator viewing facilities, a new synthetic playing surface, a walking circuit with pedestrian lighting, tree planting and landscaping.
  • $1.7 million for Penrith City Council to deliver the Andromeda Oval Storage, Sports Surface & Carpark Improvements project which will upgrade storage amenities at the existing facility, improved drainage and surface work to the eastern playing fields, upgrade to the existing multisport surfaces for netball and basketball and an extension to the existing car park.
  • $7 million towards the $41 million Gipps Street Recreation Precinct project to transform a 32-hectare former landfill site in Claremont Meadows into a multipurpose open space facility for the community.

Wollondilly

  • $5.2 million for Wollondilly Shire Council to upgrade the Waterboard Oval in Warragamba with new and improved facilities to accommodate soccer, cricket, AFL and various court sports.
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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.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

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