NSW state sporting organisations reach agreement over facilities

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The major NSW state sporting organisations have come to a collective agreement in regards to community sport.

Football NSW, Cricket NSW, NSW Rugby League, NSW Rugby Union and AFL NSW/ACT have all accepted a proposal which will give their sports appropriate access to shared grounds and facilities.

Under the agreement, the winter football codes will complete their community competitions no later than October 11 of this year, with summer community cricket competitions to finish by April 5 of next year.

Participants will work together to oversee any exceptions to ground access, as well as agreed season changeovers.

CEOs of the state sporting organisations, including Football NSW’s Stuart Hodge, released a joint statement about the latest developments.

“This show of unity and collaboration comes during a period of dramatic impact for sport in our State,” the CEOs said on Thursday.

“In NSW, bush fires, smoke, heat and floods all contributed to a significant loss of cricket matches before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of most finals.

“Likewise, COVID-19 has cost the football codes up to half their seasons.

“We all know how important it is to our communities to be able to play sport at all ages and all levels.  The intent of this agreement is that we want to provide the opportunity for girls and boys, women and men, to play the sport they love this season, whilst supporting the many volunteers who give so much to our respective community sporting clubs and associations.

“This agreement clearly puts community sport as the central focus of all the sporting codes.

“We collectively thank local councils, the sporting community and our incredible volunteers for their patience and ongoing support. We are committed to providing a safe and carefully managed environment – now let’s all get back on the field and enjoy our sport.”

The community sports agreement can be viewed in full here.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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