Federal Budget commits $97 million investment for sport programs

Avatar
Image credit: Play Football website

The 2024-25 Federal Budget, which was released on Tuesday night, includes more than $97 million over two years to the ASC to extend Sporting Schools, the Local Sporting Champions, and Local Para Champions programs, and participation funding to help more Australians get active.

This two-year extension runs until 30 June 2026 and helps kids of all different sports afford an opportunity to play at a local level if they come from and under privileged background.

Football Australia is a part of the Sporting Schools program, with each state offering participation Officers and local clubs that are ready to implement in-school and after-school programs for students of ages up to Year 8, plus all abilities programs.

Football Australia use this program to link local football clubs with schools to facilitate an ongoing relationship and provide further opportunity for students to continue their football journey outside of school, whether that be MiniRoos Kick Off, MiniRoos Club or Junior Football.

More than 24,000 young Australians will be supported with the Local Sporting Champions (LSC) and Local Para Champions (LSP) grants programs continuing for a further two years.

These are fantastic programs that have supported Australia’s best athletes including many Matildas like Courtney Nevin, Cortnee Vine, Alex Chidiac, Teagan Micah and Clare Hunt.

World Cup veteran’s Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter also rose to success with assistance from the LSC program throughout their junior careers.

Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins OAM mentions the importance of this investment to continue critical national sporting programs.

“Once again, I want to thank Minister Wells and the Australian Government for their continued support and investment in Australian sport,” Perkins said in a statement.

“This funding extends critical sport participation programs like the Participation Grant program and Sporting Schools which provides free and fun sporting opportunities to more than two million students each year.

“This follows last week’s announcement of $249.7 million to upgrade the AIS Campus to ensure our athletes have access to the world’s best testing and training facilities, and accommodation ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

This is a fantastic initiative that will benefit football amongst other sports and has a history of helping kids of all skill levels play in their respective sport.

The Federal Budget have put in almost $350 to improve sport, mostly around the 2032 Olympic Games but it is great to see some investment in the world game after the huge success of the Women’s World Cup last year.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football Australia Expands Mental Skills Program for Match Officials Amid Sustained Focus on Referee Retention

Avatar
Image Credit: Football NSW

Football Australia has confirmed a second national webinar for match officials, led by sports psychologist Dr Liam Slack, extending a referee development series introduced after strong engagement with an initial session on managing match-day pressure.

The upcoming session, themed “parking with purpose,” will focus on decision-making strategies designed to help referees process on-field calls and reset attention quickly across a match that can present hundreds of individual decisions. Dr Slack, who also consults with The Football Association and the AFC Referee Academy and previously spent over a decade as a performance psychologist with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited in England, brings substantial elite-level experience to a program open to officials at every level, from grassroots to professional.

The theme builds on work Dr Slack has already delivered within Australian officiating. He recently led a session with Football Australia’s National Referee Academy on the same concept, framing the ability to consciously park a decision and refocus on the next phase of play as a trainable skill rather than an innate trait, one that separates officials who reset quickly under pressure from those who don’t. He has also addressed more than 100 Football Australia elite match officials and staff on developing a stronger match-day mentality, an indication of how embedded this psychological framework has become across the officiating pathway rather than remaining a one-off intervention.

The expansion of the webinar series reflects a broader shift in how football administrators are approaching referee attrition. Rather than treating retention purely as a recruitment or pay problem, the program signals an institutional acknowledgment that the psychological demands of officiating, particularly the compounding pressure of split-second decisions under public scrutiny, are a material factor in whether officials remain in the game.

It rests alongside other measures adopted across Australian football in recent years, including visible identification programs for junior referees and structural reviews of referee departments at state federation level, all aimed at the same underlying issue: a shrinking pool of match officials relative to demand.

Football Australia has not detailed metrics for assessing the program’s impact on referee numbers, though the recurring engagement of an internationally credentialed specialist across multiple tiers of the officiating pathway suggests sustained institutional investment in the approach.

Arsenal FC announce Saint Lucia as new destination partner

Avatar
Image credit: Saint Lucia Tourism Authority

Starting in the 2026/27 season, the deal will see Saint Lucia become Arsenal‘s Official Destination Partner.

 

Global reach of a football giant

As one of the most popular clubs in the world, Arsenal’s influence expands far beyond the boundaries of North London.

And with its latest partnership, alongside the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA), the reigning Premier League champions will help to promote the Caribbean island to the UK market.

Furthermore, the agreement will see additional benefits for both parties, including the development of an Academy Hub in Saint Lucia, brand visibility at the Emirates Stadium for both Premier League and Women’s Super League games, and more.

“We are entering an exciting term as Arsenal’s Official Destination Partner, aligning with a club that has a loyal, global supporter base,” said Saint Lucia’s Minister for Tourism, Commerce, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Heritage, Dr. Ernest Hilaire via media release.

A partnership extending from one side of the Atlantic to the other, uniting communities through football.

 

Sport and culture go hand-in-hand

This isn’t the first time, however, that Saint Lucia Tourism Authority has ventured into the commercial world of global sport.

In the past, for example, the organisation built firm relationships with several other iconic outfits including the New York Yankees (baseball), Toronto Raptors (basketball), Toronto Maple Leafs (ice hockey) and Brooklyn Nets (basketball).

But with an iconic club like Arsenal the latest addition to the lost, it further proves that sport, culture and commerce are by no means seperate entities.

In fact, in a deal such as this, all three can grow and thrive.

Arsenal are one of several clubs to establish ties with tourism boards and destination groups across the world. Notable partnerships include:

  • Manchester City and Visit Abu Dhabi
  • Fulham FC and Visit Mongolia
  • Manchester United and Visit Malta

Exposure for international tourism boards at Premier League grounds holds immense economic potential, thus a key aim in the alliance between Saint Lucia and Arsenal is to drive the island’s economy through tourism.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend