WA Government commit $2m to local sporting clubs through grants

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The latest round of funding for the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF) and Club Night Lights Program (CNLP) small grants has been confirmed.

These small grants, which range from $7,500 to $500,000, will support 25 community sport and recreation facilities with essential renovations, including upgrades to changing rooms, playing facilities, and venue lighting.

In this round, 12 applications were approved for CSRFF funding, while 13 were successful under the CNLP.

Some of the key projects funded in this latest round include:

  • $95,983 for the installation of a synthetic bowling green at the North Perth Bowling and Recreation Club
  • $200,000 for floodlighting upgrades at Usher Park, Kalgoorlie
  • $135,000 for the installation of 100 lux LED floodlighting at Ranford Oval, Canning
  • $129,690 for a heat pump installation at Bridgetown Swimming Pool

These projects represent a combined investment of over $2 million for 2024/25, underscoring a significant commitment to enhancing community sporting infrastructure across Western Australia.

This follows the 2023 announcement of an additional $15 million allocated to the CSRFF over two years, increasing the annual funding to $20 million. This highlights the State Government’s dedication to providing high-quality, sustainable, and accessible community facilities across WA.

The two grant systems have existed since 2018/19 and have worked with many shires and municipalities to develop grassroots sports in WA from Skate parks to stadium expansions for basketball stadiums.

For football, clubs such as Ranford FC who will enjoy a major lighting upgrade that will enable them to hold better, safer evening training sessions and potentially night games if necessary.

Whilst the other upgrades such as surface improvements and change rooms haven’t affected football using these grants, it opens up a possibility for clubs to request vital funding that they require.

Football West in their 2023-2026 Strategic Plan touched on the importance of grants to the local clubs as it pinpoints one of their key pillars being accessibility for kids and adults of all ages and financial backgrounds.

It’s important that football continues to get invested in as it continues to grow in popularity, particularly at the grassroots level. This investment ensures that clubs can accommodate more players, promote community engagement, and sustain the sport’s development across the country.

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

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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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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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