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

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Image Credit: SCFC

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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Image Credit: Football NSW

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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