Football Victoria short-lists bidders for national Home of the Matildas

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Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord

In a statement made this week, Football Victoria announced the short list of bidders to secure the rights to be the national home of Australia’s senior women’s squad, the Matildas.

The Matildas, now tearing it up in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, have been in need of a permanent base for some time.

The short list includes La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus as well as the municipalities of Darebin, Casey, Brimbank and Maroondah.

The press release can be found below in full:

The establishment of the proposed national Home of the Matildas has moved a step closer with Football Victoria nominating five locations as the potential base for the state-of-the-art facility.

The short-list comprises the municipalities of Brimbank, Casey, Darebin, and Maroondah, along with La Trobe University as part of redevelopment plans at its Bundoora campus.

The process now moves into the next stage of discussions with the respective municipalities and/or landowners, as part of a feasibility study underway to determine the preferred location for what will also serve as the State Home of Football. Concept plans and cost estimates will be developed once a preferred site has been identified.

Football Victoria received $200,000 from the Victorian Government for the feasibility study, along with a $15 million commitment from the Federal Government towards construction.

Football Victoria CEO, Peter Filopoulos, said the sport would continue to work closely with governments at all levels to create a dedicated, world-class facility that would be a “game-changer for women’s football in Australia and across the Asia region”.

“Just as the Matildas are doing Australia proud on the world stage, it’s incumbent on us as a nation to provide them the high-performance home base that will help them stay at the forefront of international football and ensure the game keeps developing the stars of tomorrow”, he said.

Among a range of features, it is proposed that the Home of the Matildas would include elite training facilities to cater for the senior and emerging Matildas programs, including leading-edge medical and sports science facilities, strength and conditioning areas, an aquatic zone, indoor futsal facilities, and offices for FFA/FV technical staff. It is also proposed that the facility would house a training and education hub for non-playing roles including specialist programs for girls and women as coaches, referees and club administrators.

“The creation of a national Home of the Matildas will go a long way towards helping the game in Victoria meet our stated objective of 50:50 gender participation by 2027.”

Today’s announcement comes as the Westfield Matildas move to the knock-out stage of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Football Federation Australia, with the support of the Commonwealth Government, is bidding to host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

*ENDS*

Where would you like to see the Matildas call home/base of operations?

Feel free to discuss this on social media, it’s an interesting scenario, that’s for sure.

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Caelum Ferrarese is a Senior journalist with Soccerscene. He reports widely on micro policy within Australasia and industry disruptions at grassroots level.

Growing Football Community Grant Program open for applications

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Matildas
Image credit: CommBank Matildas

Round Two of the Growing Football Community Grant Program is now open for local clubs to apply, it opened on August 21st and will go until September 16th.

In light of the successful FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, Football Australia introduced the Growing Football Fund to further boost the development of women’s football across the country and after a successful first round of recipients, applications opened up again for more grassroots clubs.

Supported by CommBank, this fund offers community clubs and associations the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $5,000. These grants aim to support initiatives and programs focused on enhancing and promoting women’s and girls’ football.

Key dates

Application open dates:

10am AEST, Wednesday 21 August 2024 – 10pm AEST, Monday 16 September 2024

Project delivery period:

Clubs/associations will have up to 12 months to utilise the funding.

Grant objectives

The main goal of the Community Grant Program is to offer concrete support to clubs and associations, with an emphasis on initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining women and girls in football.

Additionally, the program seeks to:

– Create positive experiences for both new and returning football participants that encourage continued involvement in the sport.

– Enhance the education and development of community coaches, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to deliver high-quality football experiences.

– Assist clubs and associations in fostering inclusive and safe environments to help retain women and girls within their clubs.

The collective impact of these objectives will significantly contribute to Football Australia and CommBank’s shared goal of advancing gender equity and creating quality environments for women and girls within football.

Grant Guidelines + link

The Guidelines provide information on all things related to the grant, including eligibility criteria, type of activities that will or will not be funded, assessment criteria and more. Any club or association wishing to apply for the Growing Football Fund must review these guidelines.

A document outlining the conditions of the Grant can be found here.

In March 2024, the inaugural round of 121 clubs or associations was confirmed a Growing Football Community Grant.

To contact for more details, the email is provided below:

growingfootballfund@footballaustralia.com.au

Football Queensland presents 2024-2026 Infrastructure Strategy

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Matildas vs France Women's World Cup
Image credit: CommBank Matildas

Football Queensland has released its new 2024-2026 infrastructure strategy outlining centrally that collaboration with the government will be necessary for infrastructure investment over the next three years.

FQ and Football Australia did quantitative research on community club infrastructure and found the need for millions of dollars worth of infrastructure to support this growth and maintain numbers.

The first point of call is “Unlocking the Legacy of the FWWC23.”

FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci expressed his delight on releasing the Infrastructure Strategy.

“We are delighted to release the 2024-2026 Infrastructure Strategy which builds on our previous 2020 – 2024 Infrastructure Strategy and details our roadmap to securing the vital investment required in our greenspace to build capacity as we work towards achieving our goal of 50/50 gender parity by 2027,” he said via press release.

“Football, as Queensland’s leading team participation sport, continues to grow annually at a double-digit rate, with a staggering 44% surge in female participation (and 29% overall growth) in outdoor players alone in the first quarter of 2024 following the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.”

FQ has recorded 300,000 participants with an impressive 65% growth in the last 4 years.

In conjunction with this data, there was a +470% increase in talent pathway athletes and a +330% increase in female participation since 2016.

Also on the national teams, the FQ has a massive role with 50% of the 23FWWC Matildas and Olympic football teams coming through FQ pathways.

Despite these remarkable statistics, looking at it from an infrastructure perspective Robert Cavallucci continues on by saying that football has reached a crisis situation.

“From an infrastructure perspective, based on its continued growth, the game has reached a critical crossroads due to historical underinvestment.”

This struggling infrastructure leads to Challenges such as:

  • Physical and Mental Health Challenges including youth crime.
  • Economic Challenges
  • Reduced Physical Activity
  • Environmental Impact
  • Lack of Opportunities

The study behind this strategy is based on the National Football Facilities Audit Tool.

Provided by the partnership of FQ with Football Australia and another 8 member federations.

It has over 13.5 million data points, providing crucial business intelligence and pinpointing infrastructure gaps for clubs to work on FQ with Football Australia and another 8 member federations introduced the sport’s inaugural.

This data will help FQ in increasing its workforce capabilities with a precise mobilisation of its participation base.

This will be upheld by key campaigns on targeted events and participation, including advocacy within the community to engage with the government and support further education of participants to upgrade the development and quality of personnel.

The Strategy has been broken up into 3 priorities:

Priority 1: State Home of Community Football Pathways

FQ aims to establish a consolidated State Home of Community Football at Meakin Park.

It will significantly contribute to local economic growth and enhance physical and mental well-being through improved facility access, events at various levels (local, state, and national), and community activations.

The benefits:

  • Local economic activity.
  • Supports local sports clubs.
  • Multi-purpose indoor facility access.
  • Community Access.
  • International level training facility.
  • Economic activity through events.

As of December 2023, the estimated cost of this project is $70 million.

Priority 2: Community Football Infrastructure Fund

FQ with the Queensland state government will have a funding model in partnership that would see $20 million per annum invested over an initial three-year period in capacity and capability improvement projects.

Will also advocate for state funding grants for community football, planning for 20 facility improvements annually.

There is a need for large-scale facilities for the lower leagues and training of youth as well as high-performance training facilities in the state.

The benefits:

  • Improved club capacity and capability.
  • Targeted investment (need as opposed to want).
  • Promotes football & Government, co-contribution model.

 Priority 3: Tier 2 Stadium Fit-For-Purpose Stadia

The proposed new 15,000-20,000 seat stadium would be an international state-of-the-art venue tailored for football and a range of events from conferences to concerts.

This would support the commercial viability of the sport, especially the female game and the hosting of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

The Benefits:

  • Fit-for-purpose football stadia.
  • Supports professional sports’ economic viability.
  • Promotes Brisbane as a global sports capital.

The estimated cost from December 2023 is 200 million.

The strategy is based on hard evidence, community data and a thorough plan to develop the lacking areas of the game. It does highlight the need for the support of the government, otherwise, the strategy has the potential to struggle.

Overall, however, the outlined process looks promising and with the future AFC2026 and Olympics 2032 competitions, it is an area the government needs to support, and this strategy proves Football Queensland have the dedication and preparation to see it through.

To read through the full 2024-26 Infrastructure Strategy, click here.

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