Football Queensland launches new school partnership

Liam Watson

Football Queensland has maintained its commitment towards uniting football by announcing a new partnership with The Great Public Schools’ Association of Queensland (GPS).

The move comes as part of Football Queensland’s School Strategy, designed to improve the sporting experience for school participants.

After months of discussions, Football Queensland and GPS have reached a Memorandum agreement that will see match referees and fresh development opportunities for referees and coaching supplied to GPS schools across the state.

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“We are delighted to be working with GPS and school football and look forward to delivering quality outcomes for participants of school football,” Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said.

“It is critical we continue to unite football in the state whilst constantly looking for innovative ways to improve the experience wherever football is played and this partnership enables us to do that, creating consistency in refereeing across school and club football.”

GPS was founded in 1918 and has been able to administer sporting and cultural activities for nine secondary schools in Brisbane, Ipswich, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba. Football has been part of the association’s focus since 1991.

“The new partnership with Football Queensland will deliver tangible benefits for our member schools, allowing us to improve the quality and support of match officials and coaches across the GPS network and encouraging growth in participation,” GPS Competition Administrator Katie Veitch said.

“We look forward to working with Football Queensland to further strengthen the delivery of GPS football as we provide exciting opportunities for our participants and their football development moving forward.”

“One of Football Queensland’s strategies will be the delivery of free referee courses to build capacity within GPS schools and mentoring match officials during school games, reflecting FQ’s commitment to growing the number of referees in the state through increased development opportunities,” Cavallucci said.

“We will also be making coach education courses available to GPS school coaches to ensure their young players are benefitting from the best possible guidance.

“Football in Queensland United is a critical strategic objective, and we can only achieve this by bringing together and welcoming communities into the football family.

“A united game with a shared purpose, demonstrating we are the largest participation sport across Queensland, FQ will advocate football with a stronger position across all levels of government.”

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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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.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

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