Performance Physio collaborates with Football Queensland

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Football Queensland has named Performance Physio as its Official Physiotherapy Partner for all FQ Representative Programs and staff in 2025, as well as the preferred physio partner for the broader FQ football community.

This alliance will strengthen support for Queensland players by providing expert injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation services across key FQ programs and events throughout the season.

Through this collaboration, Performance Physio will provide physiotherapy, sports trainer services, and injury screening, prevention, and management at major Football Queensland events. This includes FQ Academy competitions, Queensland State Teams in the NPL U23 competition and National Youth Championships, as well as FQ Academy QAS training sessions and matchdays.

Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci stated that the partnership will offer essential support to players progressing through the state’s high-performance pathways.

“Football Queensland is proud to welcome Performance Physio as our Official Physiotherapy Partner for 2025. Their expertise in injury management and player welfare will be invaluable in ensuring our athletes can perform at their best while maintaining their health on and off the field,” he said via press release.

“Performance Physio has been a trusted provider of physiotherapy services within Queensland’s football community, and we’re pleased to continue working with them to provide professional, high-quality support to our FQ Academy programs.

“This partnership ensures our current and emerging players will have access to the best possible care and education, helping them develop long-term injury prevention and management skills.”

Director and Principal Physiotherapist Ranveer Atwal highlighted that the agreement will provide players with specialised football injury rehabilitation, prevention, and recovery, utilising advanced systems and equipment to support their long-term development, including priority access to sports medicine pathways.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Football Queensland to provide high-level physiotherapy support to emerging footballers across the state,” Atwal said via press release.

“This collaboration allows us to work closely with players, coaches, and teams to ensure they receive the best possible care while also learning how to manage their bodies for long-term performance.” 

As part of the collaboration, FQ community football participants can enjoy an exclusive discount on Performance Physio services in 2025 by mentioning their club when booking.

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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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