World Game Facilities Fund blitz continues with $500,000 for Ballarat soccer club

Avatar
Credit City of Ballarat.

The City of Ballarat has announced a $500,000 grant from the Victorian State government, continuing the blitz of funding for new projects all over Victoria. The money will go towards a $3.25 million project to build a new pavilion at the Victoria Park Soccer Club’s Military Drive ground.

The pavilion will include home and away female changing rooms and facilities including a kitchen and canteen, referee rooms, publicly accessible toilets, and seating for spectators. The project is expected to begin later this year, to be completed by mid-2022.

The grant was awarded through the Victorian Government’s World Game Facilities Fund and follows several other projects being announced and funded, including further developments to Olympic Park and a host of upgrades to community club’s grounds. The focus on facilities for women’s sport continues with this project.

There has already been resurfacing, irrigation, and drainage work completed at the ground, which will soon have a lighting project begin in the coming months that has been fully funded by the Ballarat City Council. The total cost of the works is expected to be $1.3 million.

Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said the project would allow better access to faculties for players in the region and facilitate the growth of the club.

“As we know from similar projects across Ballarat, upgraded facilities make it much easier for our community clubs to attract and retain players, and female-friendly facilities help to level the playing field when comes to participation in sport,” she said.

“I’m confident this project, with the support of $500,000 from the Victorian Government, will help make that happen here too.”

The City of Ballarat Mayor praised the support from the Daniel Andrews Government, hailed as essential for ensuring the project was both viable and successful.

“We’re really grateful for the state’s support of this important project. Soccer is one of our strongest participation sports and Victoria Park is at the gateway to our fast-growing western suburbs, so this upgrade will have a significant impact for hundreds of players at senior and junior levels,” Cr Moloney said.

“This supports the $1.3 million resurfacing and lighting works completed and underway at the facility, which together will enhance the status of Victoria Park as one of city’s most important community spaces.”

More projects and upgrades are expected to be announced from the World Game Facilities Fund in the coming weeks and months.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

Avatar
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

Avatar
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.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend