Strengthening Regional Community Sport supporting Victoria’s strategic projects

Staff Writer
Image via PxHere

The Strengthening Regional Community Sport 2024-2027 program is designed to provide grants for local, strategic projects aimed at boosting participation in sports, both on and off the field.

This initiative aims to create stronger, more resilient, self-sufficient, and sustainable sports communities across regional Victoria.

The program offers grants of up to $300,000 over three years (2024-2027) to eligible organisations. Applications for these grants will open on July 4, 2024, and close on September 9, 2024. Detailed guidelines for the program are available in both PDF and DOCX formats.

Eligibility for these grants is restricted to Victorian State Sporting Associations (SSAs) and State Sport and Active Recreation Bodies (SSARBs) recognised by Sport and Recreation Victoria as the leading governing bodies for disability sports in the state. These organisations include Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria, Deaf Sports and Recreation Victoria, Disability Sport and Recreation, Disabled WinterSport Australia, Riding for the Disabled Association of Victoria, Paralympics Australia – Victoria, Special Olympics Victoria, and Sport Inclusion Australia, Victorian Branch.

Eligible organisations can submit one application through the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry, and Regions (DJSIR) online grants portal. Recognised organisations will receive an email with all the necessary information to support their application process, including a link to the online portal, a mandatory template to complete, and a list of required attachments.

Applications will be assessed according to the criteria set out in the program guidelines. The assessment process will commence after the application period ends, and applicants will be notified of the outcome by the end of November 2024.

An online information session will be held on July 10, 2024, from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm. Prospective applicants and project partners are strongly encouraged to attend this session. Invitations will be sent via email to recognised organisations.

A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) is available to assist organizations with their applications. For any accessibility or general inquiries regarding the grants, organisations are advised to contact Sport and Recreation Victoria directly.

For full details, you can view them here.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football South Australia renews partnership with Datacord as Community Football Commitment Deepens

Avatar
Image Credit: Football SA

Football South Australia has announced the renewal of its partnership with Datacord, continuing a relationship that has grown steadily since the South Australian print and document solutions provider first entered the football community as naming rights sponsor of the Collegiate Soccer League Division 1.

That initial agreement, which saw Datacord align with one of Adelaide’s most historic amateur competitions, marked the beginning of what has since developed into a broader commitment to South Australian football at every level. The renewed partnership extends Datacord’s involvement beyond the CSL and into the wider Football SA ecosystem, with clubs across the state now able to access exclusive offers and preferred pricing on photocopying, managed print services and tailored business solutions.

The practical value of that access should not be understated. Community football clubs operate on tight margins, relying heavily on volunteer administrators managing everything from registration paperwork to grant applications. Cost-effective print and document solutions reduce the operational burden on those volunteers, a small but meaningful contribution to the sustainability of clubs that form the backbone of the game in South Australia.

“George is a great supporter of sport in South Australia and we are delighted to have Datacord as a supporter of football,” said Football SA CEO Michael Carter. “Service is second to none and we highly recommend their services to the business community within the Football Family.”

For Datacord Managing Director George Koutsoubis, the renewal reflects a genuine investment in the community rather than a transactional commercial arrangement. “It is important to support the local community, and Football South Australia is the perfect place to start spreading the word about Datacord and what we do for the South Australian community,” he said. “We are locally owned and operated, and I think it is a great partnership to be part of.”

Football NSW releases $600,000 towards Grassroots Grants to meet Participation Pressure

Avatar
The Victorian State Government has announced new grants and funding for 11 new community infrastructure projects for local football clubs, totalling $3.8 million.
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Sixty-five football clubs across New South Wales have secured a combined total of nearly $600,000 in funding through the NSW Office of Sport’s Local Sports Grant Program. It follows as a result of Football NSW’s scale of demand for community sport support and the growing pressure on clubs struggling to keep pace with surging participation.

The grants, covering 69 individual projects across the Football NSW footprint, will fund facility upgrades, equipment purchases, participation programs and accessibility improvements: the unglamorous but essential infrastructure that determines whether community clubs can function at the level their members require.

The Local Sports Grant Program made up to $4.65 million available statewide in 2025, with $50,000 allocated to each electoral district and individual grants capped at $20,000. Football’s share of nearly $600,000 reflects the sport’s status as the largest participation code in NSW, and the degree to which that status has not always been matched by corresponding investment in the facilities and resources required to sustain it.

Volunteers carrying an unsustainable load

The announcement arrives against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the volunteer workforce that keeps community football operational. Across NSW, thousands of volunteers dedicate significant unpaid time each week to administration, ground preparation, canteen operation and the logistical demands of running competitive junior and senior programs. As participation numbers climb, driven in part by the sustained visibility of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the legacy of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, those demands have intensified without a corresponding increase in the resources available to meet them.

“As the largest participation sport in NSW it is pleasing to see almost $600,000 will be reinvested back into supporting our players, coaches, referees and volunteers to improve the football experience across our community clubs,” said Helen Armson, Football NSW’s Group Head of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Affairs.

The equity dimension

The distribution of the grants across 65 clubs and 69 projects also speaks to the geographic breadth of football’s footprint in NSW, and to the uneven distribution of resources that has historically characterised community sport in this country. Clubs in outer metropolitan and regional areas tend to operate with smaller budgets, older facilities and thinner volunteer bases than their inner-city counterparts. Grant programs structured around electoral allocation, rather than club size or existing resource base, provide a degree of equity that market-driven funding cannot.

The kinds of projects funded under this program disproportionately benefit clubs serving communities where the barriers to participation are highest. A club that cannot offer adequate facilities or equipment is a club that turns players away, often without intending to.

Football NSW has used the announcement to call on the NSW Government to maintain and extend its investment in the sport. “We urge the government to continue to invest in football,” Armson said, in the midst for a nation-wide push for a $343 million decade-long infrastructure fund to address the facilities gap across the state.

The nearly $600,000 secured through this round is meaningful. Against the scale of what is needed, it is also a measure of how far the investment still has to go.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend