New directors welcomed at Sport NSW Annual General Meeting

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Sport NSW hosted its Industry Forum and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) earlier this month in-person for the first time since the pandemic started – where two new directors, with an additional returning director, were elected to the board of Sport NSW.

Among the changes to Sport NSW include Erin Lorenzini, Head of Cricket Operations, Government Relations and Infrastructure at Cricket NSW, as well as Maria Nordstrom, Chief Executive Officer at Basketball NSW, along with the current Finance Director, David Sexton, who get the ball rolling in their two-year contracts.

In the meantime, Sport NSW also bid adieu to the former Chairperson, Carolyn Campbell, who had overseen seven successful years as Director, including four as a Chair. At the AGM, Life Membership of Sport NSW was granted to her to acknowledge her monumental contribution to the sector throughout the two stints as a director amounting to 12 years of service.

Sport NSW is an independent not-for-profit organisation for the sport in the state, representing all sporting companies in NSW as The Voice of Sport to elevate and be responsive for any matters that effect every level of sport all around the state, also furthering their development in physical activities in New South Wales.

The strategies of Sport NSW are built on three key pillars, mainly being Advocacy, Recognition and Networking, and Sport Development and Collaboration.

Under the Advocacy program, the not-for-profit organisation represents more than 80 State Sporting Organisations, and also Disability State Sporting Organisations, Local Councils, sports industry bodies, local clubs and sports businesses. Sport NSW support instances for all sport regarding all levels of government, furthermore, other agencies in the interests of the entire division in the state.

As for the Recognition and Networking, it involves celebrating the sporting achievements of athletes by the local community, along with the administrators, officials, coaches and volunteers, also presenting the NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony, together with the annual NSW Sports Awards and NSW Hall of Champions Induction, and the Community Sports Awards along with other professional and social contacts.

For the final pillar which is Sport Development and Collaboration, a key objective of Sport NSW’s blueprint is working with members in building and sharing the knowledge through guidance and showcasing the best practices of the industry.

The existing partners of Sport NSW include but are not limited to the Office of Sport and NSW Communities and Justice in the NSW Government divisions, along with the University of NSW, sports law experts Lander and Rogers, and children’s charity, Variety, helping thousands of kids who have disabilities, chronic illnesses or facing financial difficulties to allowing to be a better version of themselves.

Sport NSW can add its vision of being the Voice of Sport to the existing clubs and organisations in Victoria, especially for the clubs advocating to be in the second division of the A-League, and also providing value for the diligent work of the volunteers throughout the season and everyone else involved at the club, and the loyal supporters who cheer on their club week in, week out.

To find more information about Sport NSW, click here.

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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.

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

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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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