Gambling Community Benefit Fund encouraged by Football Queensland to improve facilities

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The Gambling Community Benefit Fund’s (GCBF) second round of applications for 2024 are open until April 30.

Ran by the Queensland Government, it has been supported by Football Queensland to encourage applicants to get involved in the state’s largest one-off community grants program which distributes approximately $60 million each year.

The GCBF supports groups across the state which provide services, leisure activities and opportunities throughout Queensland’s diverse and extensive communities. In 2024, the first round of funding has already occurred, with the grant sum total of $35,000. Round 121, the one in which Football Queensland fall within, are entitled to grants of $100,000. Round 121 is rightly named in recognition of the 30th Anniversary, dubbed as a super round.

The funding granted by the GCBF can enable clubs across Queensland to invest in a vast variety of Football related aspects including training, coaching, and player development, while also providing funds for facility improvement and creation. Furthermore, the money can also lead to the creation of community events in that will drive youth participation, similar to the Melburnian Boys and Girls FC event held in Bendigo.

In relation to this grant, Football Queensland renewed their partnership with Felton Industries who are Australia’s primary designer of aluminium outdoor based furniture. They are currently the official seating, shelter and grandstands partner of Football Queensland, and have joined the entity in providing their services to clubs in need of grandstands, clubrooms, clubroom furniture or upgrades in facilities.

The two organisations renewed their existing agreement for a further two years in February. Chief Executive Operator of Football Queensland Robert Cavallucci stated his approval of the Felton Industries partnership, claiming how it compliments Football Queensland’s 2023-2026 strategic plan – ensuring that “there are no barriers to participation and clubs are provided with high-quality infrastructure”.

With the 100k grant coming from the GCBF for the Queensland community, both parties within the partnership are able to benefit.

Football Queensland will continue to comply with its strategic plan through the yearly improvement of its footballing facilities across the state. Felton Industries will provide those required upgrades with all the manufacturing process occurring in Australia.

From all aspects, the partnership all attributes to the growth and nourishment of Football within Queensland, therefore only raising the quality amongst it.

For full information on GCBF and to apply, you can find it here: https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/initiatives/community-grants

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

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

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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.

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