New Harrison Park amenities will be a game changer

Staff Writer

The 41-year-old amenities block at Harrison Park has had a much-needed facelift, with the newly refurbished facility officially opened today by Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith OAM, Councillors and representative from the Parkes & District Amateur Soccer Association.

Harrison Park is home to the Parkes & District Amateur Soccer Association and is one of the premier soccer fields in the Central West. However, the amenities were in desperate need of refurbishment.

Parkes Shire Mayor, Cr Ken Keith OAM said “these upgrades will certainly be a game changer for local soccer. There are more than 500 registered players, as well as spectators and family members who regularly use these facilities. The grounds are also used by Parkes and District Cricket Association, so the benefits will be shared around the community.”

“The new amenities will improve safety, hygiene and accessibility, and provide Parkes with the necessary infrastructure to host regional and state championships,” Cr Keith said, “this will benefit our local sporting groups, as well as the local economy.”

The new facility features two spacious change rooms, eight additional toilets, and additional facilities for disabled/ambulant access. The change rooms provide direct access to shower facilities, which can be closed to the public in when required.

The new amenities block has been designed for maximum ventilation while still being sheltered from the weather, and also features a new referee room, and accessible parent change room. Energy and water efficiencies include timed taps and bubbler, LED lighting on timed sensors, and drinking bottle refill stations.

The works were managed by Parkes Shire Council’s Building and Projects Officer Bart Ingram and delivered by local building contractor Rodney Barnes.

Parkes & District Amateur Soccer Association’s President, Wayne Osborne said “the new facilities will give Parkes a competitive edge when bidding to host future sporting events.”

“We are looking to apply for some rounds of the Western Youth League, and following that State titles. Councils are really investing in the playing surfaces and sealing work on the car parks, so we will end up with a premier product,” Mr Osborne continued.

“It’s great for the players, and great for the town.”

Cr Ken Keith said that the upgrades really were a team effort.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the NSW Government and Football NSW for their generous support which made these upgrades possible,” he said.

The works were funded by the NSW Government, Football NSW and Northern NSW Football and proudly co-funded by Parkes Shire Council and the Parkes and District Amateur Soccer Association.

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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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