INCLUSION & DIVERSITY

Football NSW has a range of inclusive initiatives that allows all abilities players to engage and enjoy the game of football in a safe and welcoming environment.

All Abilities

Football4all

With great pride, Football NSW (FNSW) saw the annual football4all Nova Employment Gala Day back for 2022 after COVID-19 forced a cancellation to the 2021 edition. The Gala Day saw over 350 players from football4all programs around NSW come together and celebrate inclusive football, with ParaMatildas and Pararoos representatives in attendance, a Western Sydney Wanderers activation on site, jumping castles, showbags, a NOVA Employment BBQ and much more.

Despite the rain throughout the year, football4all programs around NSW managed to have a great season.

International Day of People with a Disability (IDPwD)

Hills Football (HF), Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA) and North West Sydney Football (NWSF) came together again in 2022 on Saturday 3rd of December to run a gala day, inclusive of a Miniroos Coaching Certificate, to celebrate International Day of People with a Disability (IDPwD).

CP Football

The National Para Football Championship was held on the Gold Coast in 2022, with

FNSW sending two teams (FNSW Navy and Sky) to compete. The squads held multiple training sessions in the build up to Nationals, helping both teams to perform strongly at the Championship event.

FNSW Navy were successful in qualifying for the bronze medal match, losing 6 – 1 to Western Australia to finish fourth overall. FNSW Sky went all the to the final and managed to earn a 7-3 victory over Victoria, ensuring FNSW remained champions for the 12th consecutive time.

The ParaFootball Development Centre, formally known as the Pararoos Development Centre, was up and running with the addition of a Sutherland location in 2022. The Centre is hosted by NSFA, with monthly trainings run for participants with Cerebral Palsy (CP), Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) or symptoms resulting from a stroke. Trainings are run by experienced coaches and Pararoos Ben Sutton, Ben Akins and Jeremy Boyce.

The Female only CP program also ran throughout the 2022 season, with the exception of some washed out sessions due to the rain. These sessions were run for female participants with CP, ABI or symptoms resulting from a stroke, with many of the program regulars representing Australia in the ParaMatildas squad.

Powerchair Football

The 2022 NSW Powerchair League season kicked-off in late February at Valentine Sports Park, with teams competing across Premier League and Reserve Grade divisions.

NSWPFA’s Reserve Grade had a remarkably successful transition to a fully competitive and action-packed competition in 2021, and this continued into 2022. With teams now aware of just how tough the competition would be, Sydney FC claimed the first 3 points to launch the season in style. Hills United quickly became the team to beat in, racing to a dominant lead with a nine-match winning streak to start the Reserve Grade season. The team in yellow finished the season undefeated and were crowned champions with four matches to spare.

In the 2022 Premier League, Hills United looked to emulate their Reserve Grade side, going through the opening six rounds without a single loss, while 2021 Champions Newcastle Jets were once again battling their way into the title fight as both sides swapped victories through the season. An encouraging start from the Wanderers saw them claim wins over both the title contenders, but their momentum faded as the season continued.

The battle between the Newcastle Jets and Hills United continued during the midseason break for the annual APFA Club

Championship. The tournament brought the best teams in the nation to Sydney for the titles, with Hills United claiming a slender group stage win over Newcastle. But the Newcastle Jets’ fighting spirit shone through as they avenged their earlier loss, defeating their Hills rivals 1-0 in the final to claim backto-back National Championships.

Back in the NSWPFA league, the Jets used that momentum and closed to within a single point with four matches remaining. Re-establishing a four-point gap over the final few rounds was enough for the Hills United side to win backto-back titles with a round to spare.

Multicultural Football

2022 saw the introduction of the MiniRoos Multicultural Settlement program by Football Australia, funded by the Federal Government’s Department of Social Services.

The Program is another branch of the KickOff product that aims to build more inclusive football environments by supporting recently arrived migrant and refugee communities through subsidised programs. Throughout the year, Football NSW facilitated 200 young players to get their first taste of MiniRoos football at various sites across Western Sydney.

FIRST NATIONS FOOTBALL NAIDOC Cup

Football NSW, in conjunction with Northern NSW Football (NNSWF), introduced the NAIDOC Cup for the first time in 2022 with great success. The event was run on the 6th July, in conjunction with NAIDOC Week, with FNSW sending girls and boys U16 First Nations teams to Awabakal Land at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.

Over 120 First Nations players were involved in the inaugural event with the NAIDOC Cup claimed by Football NSW after the FNSW girls came out on top as 4-3 victors and the FNSW boys completed a clean sweep with a dominant 10-0 win.

Following the 2022 success, FNSW and NNSWF are committed to growing the competition over the coming years as a means of inspiring young First Nations children to get active and play football.

NAIDOC Week

During NAIDOC Week, FNSW also celebrated Indigenous Round on the weekend of the 9-10th of July. FNSW hosted Indigenous Round on Durag Land at Valentine Sports Park (VSP) and were joined by Graham Davis King from the Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land Council who performed a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony before the

Football NSW Institute v Sydney University NPL NSW Women’s match.

FNSW looks forward to seeing more Clubs and Associations activating in 2023 with the continuation of Indigenous Round.

Nations of Origin

Football NSW supported Nations of Origin football component which ran at Northern NSW Football. Nations of Origin is run in conjunction with PCYC and teams from all around NSW participated in 5-a-side competition.

First Nations Football Festival

The First Nations Football Festival (FNFF), formerly known as the National Indigenous Football Championships, finally came back in 2022 after COVID-19 caused a temporary halt.

The tournament in Nowra ran between the 3rd – 5th of November and featured top class competitions from Open Men’s, Women’s as well as Under 6s and Under 14 Boys and Girls teams.

In the Under 14s category, the Newcastle All Stars reigned supreme, taking out both boys’ and girls’ finals against Dhubu Dinawan.

A celebrity match also took place, including former Socceroos players, First Nations role models, Football NSW and Football Australia staff representatives and non-Indigenous athletes. It was Jade North’s side that proved too strong winning 3-2 in what was a fun and exciting match.

The women’s final saw the Central Coast Mariners come out on top winning 3-1 against the Newcastle All Stars, while in the men’s, the Newcastle All Stars proved too strong defeating the Northern Nations 7-1.

The Australian Sports Commission / CSIRO megatrends research recognises the growing desire for people to be able to engage in sport in a more social environment. While COVID-19 and inclement weather limited the growth of modified football programs in 2022, the area remains a vital growth area for Football NSW in the years ahead.

Summer Football

Following the interruption of the 2021 winter season, the 2021/22 Summer Football season started under the shadow of months of lockdown and with considerable uncertainty related to vaccine restrictions and the patchy withdrawal of public health measures. Many centres simply did not run, as their normal July to September registration window was under lockdown with uncertainty existing over when the lockdown would end and the September to December operating period being delayed.

Sixty-two metropolitan centres and 13 regional centres ran competitions for the season ending in early 2022. Given the above context, it was incredibly pleasing that more than 44,000 players were still itching to pull on the boots and get together with their friends in the fresh air to enjoy their football.

Women and girls continue to make a higher proportion of summer football players than winter, showing the merits of a more casual, lower stakes and lower commitment football environment that is more focussed on fun and friends than competing for trophies. This