Matildas draw record attendance in victory against Chile

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Mere days after the huge announcement of equal pay between the Matildas and the Socceroos, the women have set another benchmark.

In their 2-1 win over Chile at the weekend, they drew the highest ever attendance for a women’s international match in Australian history.

20,029 fans flocked to the newly constructed Bankwest Stadium in Sydney to see Sam Kerr strut her stuff, bagging two goals as she lead her side to victory again.

After a disappointing few months following their early elimination from the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, the Matildas are well on their way to re-affirming their position as one of Australia’s strongest internationally represented teams.

The unceremonious sacking of Alen Stajcic also threw a major spanner in the works prior to the World Cup.

But Ante Milicic has done a fine job thus far. Success has seemed to follow the Matildas everywhere since that loss to Norway and this is not limited to on field performance.

The recent announcement of the equal pay agreement clearly is a landmark announcement and will hopefully spur the team on for the foreseeable future.

As we iterated in our article last week, let’s hope we can become the catalyst for a plethora of other countries to follow suit.

But today, the Matildas created another day to remember.

Being their first professional encounter following France, they had the fire in their bellies to do our country proud.

They certainly did that.

They’ve been an inspiration to so many people already, many of whom will hopefully be the next wave of aspiring superstars, both male and female.

With the equal pay agreement and more proof that people genuinely love watching them play at home, nothing seems to be able to stop them now.

And quite frankly, we couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds.

 

 

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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.

The 2023-24 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund to cater for participation boom

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2023-24 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund
Image via Pxhere

The Victorian Government’s 2023-24 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund is a state-wide investment, open until December 13, 2023.

This fund was created to adapt to the increasing need for infrastructure that is required for regular active sport and recreation.

Utilising three streams, sports clubs, facility managers and community organisations will all benefit from the following grants:

  • Community Facilities – up to $300,000
  • Community Sports Lighting – up to $250,000
  • Planning – up to $40,000

Led by Minister for Community Sport, Ros Spence, the creation of infrastructure will be made possible by planners, architects, engineers, project managers,
builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, facility managers and operational staff as part on the construction process. In turn, this has a direct link back to the local economy and offers hundreds of jobs.

For sporting & recreation clubs, sporting associations & leagues, educational institutions, not-for-profit community organisations, businesses and individuals looking to apply for the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund, an important note is that they cannot do so directly. Instead, they will coordinate this with Local Government Authorities and the Alpine Resorts Victoria who will apply on their behalf.

Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday December 13 2023 – with successful candidates of the 2023-24 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund announced from April 2024.

For full information and resources, you can view those here.

Football Queensland remain with Kappa for five more seasons until 2028

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Football Queensland & Kappa partnership extension
Image credit: Football Queensland

Football Queensland have announced a five-year partnership extension with iconic international sports brand Kappa as its official apparel partner from 2024.

This relationship between the two parties has been very strong since they first partnered all the way back in 2017 and reinforces the support for football in Queensland that the brand has had.

Kappa has provided quality garments for some of Europe’s biggest clubs including Manchester City, Juventus, AC Milan and the Italian National team.

It’s a brand that was established in 1916 in Turin and eventually in 1978 they rebranded themselves to branch out as a sportwear brand where they focused purely on football-related products and designs.

For Football Queensland, they currently produce and provide quality on and off-field apparel for all Queensland State Representative teams including the state’s futsal representative squads. Kappa also provide on-field apparel for the game’s referees on the FQ website.

They also helped sponsor and start up the Kappa Women’s Super Cup and Kappa Pro Series tournaments that debuted in late 2021 and 2022 respectively for clubs to participate in across the state.

FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci was extremely pleased to announce this partnership extension following Kappa’s amazing support.

“Football Queensland is incredibly excited to announce Kappa as our official apparel partner for the next five years following a competitive tender process which saw us receive 20 expressions of interest and 15 submissions of an extremely high quality,” Cavallucci said via Football Queensland press release.

“In their seven years as a Football Queensland partner, Kappa has provided fantastic support to Football Queensland, our clubs and the wider football community thanks to their quality of apparel, ability to deliver on their promises and the team’s unwavering commitment to customer service.

“We’ve built a wonderful working relationship with the team at Kappa thanks to their willingness to go above and beyond to deliver outcomes for our organisation and our game, and we’re delighted to continue working in partnership with them from next year.”

Kappa Australia Director Ze’ev Bogaty shared the same sentiment for the great relationship the two parties have created.

“Kappa is a strong supporter of football in Queensland and has been proud to invest in the game since the partnership with Football Queensland began in 2017,” Bogaty mentioned in the FQ press release.

“Some highlights of the partnership have included the development of the teal shirt for first year referees, witnessing Queensland state sides dominate on the national stage in Kappa kit, and the launch of the Kappa Women’s Super Cup and Kappa Pro Series tournaments.

“As we embark on another five years as the state’s official apparel partner and continue our close working relationship with Football Queensland, we look forward to contributing even more to the growth and success of football across the state.”

There is a shared goal of improving the grassroots game in Queensland from both parties and the track record of Kappa’s immense investment over the past seven years has shown that this extension will do wonders for Queensland football.

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