Spectrum Soccer to be launched by Autism Central Coast

Liam Watson

Autism Central Coast will be launching Spectrum Soccer, a football skills and fun program for anyone who loves the game.

The Tuggerah-based charity will provide the program as a way to include those who don’t get the regular opportunities to experience the game and will be in a more casual learning environment.

It will be supported by Soccer 5s and the Central Coast Mariners (Daniel De Silva and Lewis Miller pictured), who will assist with the charity building towards a strong connection with the community.

This is a program which will commence on Wednesday the 4th of March 2020 at Soccer 5s in Tuggerah.

The following details have also been confirmed where there are going to be eight sessions held across March-May 2020. Participants can be aged 8-16 and will need enclosed shoes and a water bottle. Each session will go for an hour from 4:00pm – 5:00pm, with all dates listed below:

  • March 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th.
  • April 1st, 8th, 29th.
  • May 6th.

It will be run by the ACC’s Jayden Robins, who identified the need to get his clients into more healthy activity, highlighted by the successful soccer carnival that was held by the organisation a few years ago.

“It’s like anything in life,” said Robins.

“If you enjoy it, you should be able to do it, and Soccer 5s agreed with us and offered the facility.

“We are also talking to the Mariners about a sensory room at the stadium on match days. It’s a great chance for our clients to enjoy football in a more comfortable environment, and to educate the greater public about the needs of those living on the spectrum.”

Robins is the youngest member of the ACC management team and his enthusiasm will shine through in a program dedicated to giving everyone a fair go. In partnership with key personnel in the community, it’ll give participants access to quality facilities and experiences they’ll really enjoy.

For those who are interested in participating in the program, enquiries should go to Autism Central Coast using the following contact details:

Jayden Robins (program co-ordinator)

Mobile: 0401 916 183

Email: jayden@autismcentralcoast.org

For any bookings, they can be made via admin@autismcentralcoast.org or by calling 0410 918 100.

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Capital Football Introduces Pink Armband to Protect Junior Referees

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Image Credit: Marist Canberra FC

Capital Football has launched a visible identification program for referees under 18, requiring them to wear a pink armband during matches. It’s intended to build awareness surrounding the concern across Australian football about the abuse driving young officials out of the game.

The Pink Armband Initiative, effective immediately across Capital Football’s competitions in the ACT and surrounding region, makes junior referees identifiable to players, coaches and spectators. The federation says the marker is designed to set clear behavioural expectations and signal that many match officials are minors still developing their skills.

Capital Football acknowledged a referee crisis as far back as 2022, at which point it restructured its entire referee department in partnership with Football Australia. The pink armband program is the latest layer of that response; this time by targeting the cultural conditions on match day rather than systems of recruitment and pay.

A problem that spans codes and states

Research has consistently linked referee abuse to declining retention rates, with officials quitting in growing numbers due to sustained mistreatment, a trend researchers warn will reduce the pool of skilled match officials available at all levels of the game. Studies also show that young, less experienced referees are disproportionately likely to be subject to abuse.

Capital Football is not alone in reaching for a visible solution. Similar programs operate across Football Queensland, Football South Australia, Football South Coast and several other federations, while Basketball Victoria and Basketball South Australia have adopted comparable measures through the Green Whistle initiative. The spread of these programs across codes and states reflects a shared administrative problem: many grassroots referees are teenagers and volunteers who do not officiate for money but because they love the game, and abuse is eroding that foundation.

For a federation overseeing nearly 29,000 registered players, fewer referees means fewer matches. Fewer matches means reduced participation. The pink armband is a low-cost intervention with structural consequences if it works.

Football Victoria Backs Campaign to Shield Junior Players from Gambling Harm

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More than 600 sporting clubs across Victoria have enrolled in a state government program designed to limit young players’ exposure to gambling, with Football Victoria now urging its community clubs to join before a late-July registration deadline.

The Love the Game initiative asks clubs to formally commit to a set of principles: refusing sports betting sponsorships, developing internal harm prevention policies, and building environments where coaches, parents and players are equipped to discuss gambling risks with children.

The program’s public health rationale has a sharper statistical edge than its community-facing materials suggest. A 2025 study of Victorian secondary school students aged 12 to 17 found that nearly 30% had gambled at some point, and among those who had gambled in the past year, 7.5% met the criteria for problem-gambling and a further 26.8% were classified as ‘at-risk’. The research, commissioned by the state government and published earlier this year, also found that students exposed to gambling venues and advertising were more likely to gamble or to do so in a risky manner.

The most recent Victorian Population Gambling Study found that Victorians aged 18 to 24 are the group least likely to gamble overall, yet carry the highest rates of harmful gambling across all age groups. Young people aged 18 to 34 are around five times more likely to bet on sports than older cohorts.

When the data lands at the clubhouse door

Football Victoria’s support for the program reflects a broader recognition within community sport that participation rates and club culture are connected. The environments clubs create shape whether young people stay in sport and what norms they carry with them into adulthood. For football specifically, which draws participants across a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, that responsibility is not evenly distributed. Approximately 440,000 Victorians, or 8.5 per cent of the state’s population, are classified as being at some risk of experiencing problem gambling.

The Victorian Government’s program gives clubs more than symbolic membership. Registered clubs receive practical tools to develop governance frameworks around gambling harm, resources for coaching staff and volunteers, and standing as part of a growing network of clubs taking a formal position on the issue.

Researchers have described the current framing of gambling harm as a matter of personal responsibility as inadequate, arguing it is a public health issue requiring a systemic response. Community football clubs, with their reach into households across the state, are one of the institutional levers available to make that response visible.

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