Adelaide United commits to supporting next generation talent

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Adelaide United junior development program
Image credit: Adelaide United

Adelaide United has confirmed the launch of a new junior development program, set to start in October 2023.

The new program will be spearheaded by former Adelaide United player, Marcelo Carrusca, who brings eight years worth of youth development experience to the role. The program in fact will be an expansion of Carrusca’s pre-existing development program that has been a staple of the South Australian football community.

The new program will offer participants elite coaching, holistic development, confidence boosting activities, and it will also promote education on healthy lifestyles. The club aims for the program to be delivered in a safe and inclusive environment, helping participants not only grow as footballers but as better community members.

“Adelaide United Junior Development Program is built with a strong emphasis on skill development, respect, teamwork, and social skills. Not only will the Program develop football skills, but it will teach valuable life skills to use off the field,” the club said via press release.

The program comes off the back of a survey the club conducted with 700 of their fans. The aim of the survey was to better understand what fans wished to get from the club and football generally. As a result of the survey the club discovered that for many of the fans the Adelaide United Football Club is one of the paramount custodians of community football in South Australia.

Following this result, the Club then set to work developing ways that they can live up to this expectation. Adelaide United Chief Executive Officer Nathan Kosmina spoke of this custodial role in the programmes launch.

“As custodians of the game in South Australia, we are delivering on an aspiration to be champions of our community,” he said via press release.

“We are thrilled to be fostering skills both on and off the field to South Australian children, many of whom might have only been introduced to football recently.

“The investment in this program is testament to our commitment to the future of this great Club and the important role it plays in the South Australian community.

“The Adelaide United Junior Development Program is a key pillar in our community engagement and talent development strategies.”

The programs leader, Marcelo Carrusca, added to the CEO’s sentiments expressing the core aims that the program hopes to achieve for the South Australian community.

“I am so happy to be back home at Adelaide United,” he stated via media release.

“The new Adelaide United Junior Development Program will teach South Australian children the fundamentals of football, in addition to skills off the field to be the best person they can be.

“Our coaches are amongst the best in Australia, and I can’t wait to have a positive impact on so many South Australian kids.”

This announcement comes at a perfect time for football development. Not only is it the eve of return the hotly anticipated Isuzu UTE A-League season, but it’s also the time when interest in the game at the junior level is at an all-time high. Announcements such as this are a great indicator that the interest sparked by the home FIFA Women’s World Cup is going to affect real change and give more chances for the next generation of Australian football talent to succeed.

The full program schedule is as follows:

St Clair Oval
Address: Brocas Ave, St Clair SA 5011
Dates & Session Times:
Monday, 23 October – Monday, 11 December (8 Sessions)
5 – 8 Year Old – 6:00pm – 7:00pm
9 – 13 Year Old – 7:15pm – 8:15pm

Saturday, 28 October – Saturday, 16 December (8 Session)
5 – 8 Year Old – 9:00am – 10:00am
9 – 13 Year Old – 10:15am – 11:15am

Ridley Reserve East
Address: Judd Road, Elizabeth SA 5112
Dates & Session Times:
Wednesday, 25 October – Wednesday, 13 December (8 Sessions)
5 – 8 Year Old – 6:00pm – 7:00pm
9 – 13 Year Old – 7:15pm – 8:15pm

*The club has also committed to offering girls-only sessions at Ridley Reserve on Wednesdays and St Clair on Saturdays.

Registration can be made via this link: https://adelaideunited.com.au/community/junior-development-program

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Football NSW releases $600,000 towards Grassroots Grants to meet Participation Pressure

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The Victorian State Government has announced new grants and funding for 11 new community infrastructure projects for local football clubs, totalling $3.8 million.
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Sixty-five football clubs across New South Wales have secured a combined total of nearly $600,000 in funding through the NSW Office of Sport’s Local Sports Grant Program. It follows as a result of Football NSW’s scale of demand for community sport support and the growing pressure on clubs struggling to keep pace with surging participation.

The grants, covering 69 individual projects across the Football NSW footprint, will fund facility upgrades, equipment purchases, participation programs and accessibility improvements: the unglamorous but essential infrastructure that determines whether community clubs can function at the level their members require.

The Local Sports Grant Program made up to $4.65 million available statewide in 2025, with $50,000 allocated to each electoral district and individual grants capped at $20,000. Football’s share of nearly $600,000 reflects the sport’s status as the largest participation code in NSW, and the degree to which that status has not always been matched by corresponding investment in the facilities and resources required to sustain it.

Volunteers carrying an unsustainable load

The announcement arrives against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the volunteer workforce that keeps community football operational. Across NSW, thousands of volunteers dedicate significant unpaid time each week to administration, ground preparation, canteen operation and the logistical demands of running competitive junior and senior programs. As participation numbers climb, driven in part by the sustained visibility of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the legacy of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, those demands have intensified without a corresponding increase in the resources available to meet them.

“As the largest participation sport in NSW it is pleasing to see almost $600,000 will be reinvested back into supporting our players, coaches, referees and volunteers to improve the football experience across our community clubs,” said Helen Armson, Football NSW’s Group Head of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Affairs.

The equity dimension

The distribution of the grants across 65 clubs and 69 projects also speaks to the geographic breadth of football’s footprint in NSW, and to the uneven distribution of resources that has historically characterised community sport in this country. Clubs in outer metropolitan and regional areas tend to operate with smaller budgets, older facilities and thinner volunteer bases than their inner-city counterparts. Grant programs structured around electoral allocation, rather than club size or existing resource base, provide a degree of equity that market-driven funding cannot.

The kinds of projects funded under this program disproportionately benefit clubs serving communities where the barriers to participation are highest. A club that cannot offer adequate facilities or equipment is a club that turns players away, often without intending to.

Football NSW has used the announcement to call on the NSW Government to maintain and extend its investment in the sport. “We urge the government to continue to invest in football,” Armson said, in the midst for a nation-wide push for a $343 million decade-long infrastructure fund to address the facilities gap across the state.

The nearly $600,000 secured through this round is meaningful. Against the scale of what is needed, it is also a measure of how far the investment still has to go.

Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

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