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.

Similar articles:
Football Queensland announces independent governance review of the sport
Heidelberg United: Modernising youth development with SoccerPLAY

“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.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Capital Football Introduces Pink Armband to Protect Junior Referees

Avatar
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

Avatar

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.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend