WA Government commit $2m to local sporting clubs through grants

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The latest round of funding for the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF) and Club Night Lights Program (CNLP) small grants has been confirmed.

These small grants, which range from $7,500 to $500,000, will support 25 community sport and recreation facilities with essential renovations, including upgrades to changing rooms, playing facilities, and venue lighting.

In this round, 12 applications were approved for CSRFF funding, while 13 were successful under the CNLP.

Some of the key projects funded in this latest round include:

  • $95,983 for the installation of a synthetic bowling green at the North Perth Bowling and Recreation Club
  • $200,000 for floodlighting upgrades at Usher Park, Kalgoorlie
  • $135,000 for the installation of 100 lux LED floodlighting at Ranford Oval, Canning
  • $129,690 for a heat pump installation at Bridgetown Swimming Pool

These projects represent a combined investment of over $2 million for 2024/25, underscoring a significant commitment to enhancing community sporting infrastructure across Western Australia.

This follows the 2023 announcement of an additional $15 million allocated to the CSRFF over two years, increasing the annual funding to $20 million. This highlights the State Government’s dedication to providing high-quality, sustainable, and accessible community facilities across WA.

The two grant systems have existed since 2018/19 and have worked with many shires and municipalities to develop grassroots sports in WA from Skate parks to stadium expansions for basketball stadiums.

For football, clubs such as Ranford FC who will enjoy a major lighting upgrade that will enable them to hold better, safer evening training sessions and potentially night games if necessary.

Whilst the other upgrades such as surface improvements and change rooms haven’t affected football using these grants, it opens up a possibility for clubs to request vital funding that they require.

Football West in their 2023-2026 Strategic Plan touched on the importance of grants to the local clubs as it pinpoints one of their key pillars being accessibility for kids and adults of all ages and financial backgrounds.

It’s important that football continues to get invested in as it continues to grow in popularity, particularly at the grassroots level. This investment ensures that clubs can accommodate more players, promote community engagement, and sustain the sport’s development across the country.

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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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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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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