Clubs set to benefit from Wellbeing Awareness Guide by Football Queensland

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FQ Guide

In partnership with the Wellbeing Science Institute (WSI), Football Queensland (FQ) have released a Wellbeing Awareness Guide in an effort to aid Queensland clubs.

The guide, which is housed on the Club Support Hub, is the latest in a litany of resources designed by FQ to provide an increased level of support to clubs across the state. The guide arrives at a critical time especially as parts of Queensland have entered a new snap lockdown.

Outlined in the guide are six interdependent dimensions of wellbeing – physical, psychological, social, cultural, educational and financial. Each have been identified by FQ as significant in how they can potentially influence an individual.

“In line with the Strategic Plan, Football Queensland is committed to providing high-quality participation experiences for all involved in our game,” FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci said.

“The player-centred guide released today has been developed by FQ to reinforce the importance of player wellbeing, providing valuable insights for clubs to improve the health and wellbeing of their participants through a range of resources.

“As we live through an unprecedented time with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the world, the wellbeing of our participants and members of our football community has never been more important.

“We’re hopeful that the Wellbeing Awareness Guide will equip our clubs with the necessary tools to support their participants, and create a positive club environment in which they can flourish.”

Football Queensland State Technical Director Gabor Ganczer outlined what clubs can expect from the program.

“Football Queensland is committed to helping clubs on their journey towards providing a holistic wellbeing program for players of all ages.

“The information outlined in the Wellbeing Awareness Guide will provide clubs with valuable resources to monitor and improve the general wellbeing of their players.

“The guide outlines six dimensions of wellbeing which have the potential to influence an individual, and FQ will continue to develop this by adding focus areas that can be adopted by clubs to improve athlete wellbeing.

“Supporting the release of the Player Wellbeing Awareness Guide, an upcoming webinar focused on Managing Holistic Player Wellbeing will be delivered by FQ’s Club Development Unit next month.”

Depending on the COVID situation, the Player Wellbeing: Managing Holistic Player Wellbeing webinar will be held on Sunday, August 22.

Football Queensland’s Wellbeing Awareness Guide can be accessed here.

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Capital Football Introduces Pink Armband to Protect Junior Referees

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Image Credit: Marist Canberra FC

Capital Football has launched a visible identification program for referees under 18, requiring them to wear a pink armband during matches. It’s intended to build awareness surrounding the concern across Australian football about the abuse driving young officials out of the game.

The Pink Armband Initiative, effective immediately across Capital Football’s competitions in the ACT and surrounding region, makes junior referees identifiable to players, coaches and spectators. The federation says the marker is designed to set clear behavioural expectations and signal that many match officials are minors still developing their skills.

Capital Football acknowledged a referee crisis as far back as 2022, at which point it restructured its entire referee department in partnership with Football Australia. The pink armband program is the latest layer of that response; this time by targeting the cultural conditions on match day rather than systems of recruitment and pay.

A problem that spans codes and states

Research has consistently linked referee abuse to declining retention rates, with officials quitting in growing numbers due to sustained mistreatment, a trend researchers warn will reduce the pool of skilled match officials available at all levels of the game. Studies also show that young, less experienced referees are disproportionately likely to be subject to abuse.

Capital Football is not alone in reaching for a visible solution. Similar programs operate across Football Queensland, Football South Australia, Football South Coast and several other federations, while Basketball Victoria and Basketball South Australia have adopted comparable measures through the Green Whistle initiative. The spread of these programs across codes and states reflects a shared administrative problem: many grassroots referees are teenagers and volunteers who do not officiate for money but because they love the game, and abuse is eroding that foundation.

For a federation overseeing nearly 29,000 registered players, fewer referees means fewer matches. Fewer matches means reduced participation. The pink armband is a low-cost intervention with structural consequences if it works.

Football Victoria Backs Campaign to Shield Junior Players from Gambling Harm

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More than 600 sporting clubs across Victoria have enrolled in a state government program designed to limit young players’ exposure to gambling, with Football Victoria now urging its community clubs to join before a late-July registration deadline.

The Love the Game initiative asks clubs to formally commit to a set of principles: refusing sports betting sponsorships, developing internal harm prevention policies, and building environments where coaches, parents and players are equipped to discuss gambling risks with children.

The program’s public health rationale has a sharper statistical edge than its community-facing materials suggest. A 2025 study of Victorian secondary school students aged 12 to 17 found that nearly 30% had gambled at some point, and among those who had gambled in the past year, 7.5% met the criteria for problem-gambling and a further 26.8% were classified as ‘at-risk’. The research, commissioned by the state government and published earlier this year, also found that students exposed to gambling venues and advertising were more likely to gamble or to do so in a risky manner.

The most recent Victorian Population Gambling Study found that Victorians aged 18 to 24 are the group least likely to gamble overall, yet carry the highest rates of harmful gambling across all age groups. Young people aged 18 to 34 are around five times more likely to bet on sports than older cohorts.

When the data lands at the clubhouse door

Football Victoria’s support for the program reflects a broader recognition within community sport that participation rates and club culture are connected. The environments clubs create shape whether young people stay in sport and what norms they carry with them into adulthood. For football specifically, which draws participants across a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, that responsibility is not evenly distributed. Approximately 440,000 Victorians, or 8.5 per cent of the state’s population, are classified as being at some risk of experiencing problem gambling.

The Victorian Government’s program gives clubs more than symbolic membership. Registered clubs receive practical tools to develop governance frameworks around gambling harm, resources for coaching staff and volunteers, and standing as part of a growing network of clubs taking a formal position on the issue.

Researchers have described the current framing of gambling harm as a matter of personal responsibility as inadequate, arguing it is a public health issue requiring a systemic response. Community football clubs, with their reach into households across the state, are one of the institutional levers available to make that response visible.

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