The Forbes District Soccer Club (Forbes DSC) has been awarded two grants for Infrastructure and Participation by The Hon. Alisten Henskens SC MP. 

The first grant of $13,050 for Young Matildas Girls All Inclusive Programs of Excellence will develop female committee leadership, female referee training and certifications, female coaching courses, training programs, school holiday camp with W League players, and participation in pathways programs and events.

The second grant of $103,506 will facilitate Forbes DSC canteen facilities & storage infrastructure revitalisation. The grant will be supplement by an additional $100,000 from Forbes Shire Council and $3,500 from Forbes DSC. The total of $207,000 will be used for the commercial upgrade of the canteen, outfitting of the office, conversion of old changeroom into female compliant referee/changeroom, a five bay storage facility including $20,000 towards a new strength and conditioning gym.

This funding underpins our new advanced training program to be delivered on Tuesday and Thursday morning before school along with our nutrition breakfast menu for players identified to play Country NSW, NPL, Lachlan Utd & Western NSW FC in the future.

Many thanks to Phyllis Miller and Forbes Shire Council, Andrew Fearnley Football NSW, Daniel Ristic Football NSW, local school Principals and local MP Phil Donato for supporting our vision and applications for funding.

Lachlan United has been busy behind the scenes preparing for the 2023 soccer season.

Lachlan United Soccer Club was formed to encourage development pathways for rural kids to achieve placement in representative teams and increase the overall talent in the area. Players come from Forbes, Parkes, Cowra, Grenfell and surrounding areas. By bringing them all under the one banner, players will be able to make the most of courses and coaching opportunities not available in their hometowns.

The Forbes off season Goalkeeper development course held in November, saw promising soccer stars Nick Zannes, Indiana Kennedy and Josie McKenzie being selected in the U/14 Boys and U/13 girls NSW Country Futsal teams to play at the National Championships to be held in Melbourne in 2023.

Players who have been selected to play with the Lachlan United Soccer Club have a lot to look forward to in 2023. Several carnivals and gala days are already locked into the calendar, bringing teams from across the state to compete in our local area.

Teams will also travel to Goulburn to start the season at the Merino Cup, followed by a Mini Girls Gala Day hosted by Parkes, involving all western associated teams.

The opportunity to again start hosting these events, will see more than just the local soccer community benefit. The hosting towns can expect more than 5,000 visitors to visit the region, a boost that can’t come soon enough.

With the prospect of hosting larger tournaments in the future, the club is hopeful funding will come through for improvements to facilities such as training gyms, enhancing grounds and upgrading change rooms.

Forbes Soccer Club will be starting development programs for girls thanks to a $9,000 grant.

“With this funding, our club can fund new training sessions with female coaches which will provide the opportunity for girls to learn and play a sport in a fun and engaging environment,” said Club President of Forbes & District Soccer Club Paula Browne.

She welcomed the announcement and thanked the NSW Government, saying that the investment would ensure young girls in the area could participate in the sport.

“I am grateful to the NSW Government as it supports our children and young people, through initiatives like the Children and Young People Wellbeing Recovery Initiative.”

NSW Nationals Upper House MP Sam Farraway said the funding would support the club in hiring female coaches and referees, deliver more player advancement sessions and increase the number of females in the executive leadership.

“Programs such as Forbes Soccer Club’s is a great example of how we can improve the inclusiveness of sports for women.

“The club will recruit more female staff, deliver ‘come and try’ sessions for juniors and tailor advancement programs to push young girls to dream big.”

The Children and Young People Wellbeing Recovery Initiative is funded through the NSW COVID-19 Economic Recovery Initiative and the co-funded NSW and Australian Governments’ Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Eligible applicants are encouraged to apply for funding for wellbeing programs, events and resources as part of the initiative.

Applications for both large and smaller grants are open now and close on 31 December 2022, or when fully allocated.

For program and eligibility guidelines, visit nsw.gov.au/YouthWellbeing.

Parkes High School student Makayla Sloane made history playing in the inaugural NAIDOC Cup last week with her team Football NSW winning the trophy.

First Nations footballers took centre stage during NAIDOC Week last Wednesday when Northern NSW Football and Football NSW played each other on Awabakal land at Lake Macquarie Regional Football facility. The two regions selected one male and one female squad each with players aged between 14 and 16 to play each other.

Makayla’s team, Football NSW won the girls match 4-3.

“It was a great experience playing with such talented players from all over NSW,” said Makayla. “I have never really been able to play with such an experienced team. It was challenging playing on a synthetic pitch for the first time in the pouring rain as controlling the ball and staying on my feet was harder than expected due to the wet weather. All of it made it a fun experience!”

Makayla said she learned from the experience that she needed to put herself out there to be noticed. “I was very proud to have been selected in a team to represent the Women’s First Nations Football festival in Nowra.”

Football NSW’s Inclusion and Diversity Coordinator Annabel Meadley said it was an amazing experience for the players, and a memorable day recognising our First Nations people.

“The inaugural NAIDOC Cup went incredibly well. Although the rain was consistent throughout the day, it didn’t dampen the spirits of everyone involved. There was a sense of excitement in the air as the very first NAIDOC Cup got underway.

Four Parkes soccer teams competed at the Forbes Gala Day last weekend and the U16 Boys side came home as overall winners. They beat Orange 2-0 in the grand final. The U14 Girls team went down in the semi-final in a penalty shoot out to Bathurst. The U16 team are at the back (L-R) Coach: Angela Bottaro-Porter, Kai Airey, Jake Sinclair, Harrison Budd, Harrison Kennedy, Cameron Frogley, Dusty Annai, Tom Burkitt, Charlie Cowie and Fraiser Beaton. In front are Riley Mcmaster, Hayden Lamond, Danilo Bottaro- Porter, Alexander Macgregor, Ruby Smith, Kaden Charlton-Little and Conner Batt.

Parkes High School PE teacher and Parkes Cobras coach Meaghan Kempson will be going with the Young Matildas to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 in Costa Rica. 

Meaghan recently attended the Young Matildas preparation camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for the Under 20’s Women’s World Cup as Equipment Manager. She will be attending more preparation camps in the lead up to the World Cup in Costa Rica from 10th to 28th August. 

The Young Matildas coach Leah Blayney, who represented Australia and played in the US, invited Meaghan to join the coaching team at a Young Matildas camp last year. Meaghan is now a valuable member of the coaching staff. 

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup takes place biennially and sees 16 nations compete against each other for the prize. The competition has seen four past champions; USA, Germany, Japan and Korea DPR. 

The tournament was originally planned for 2020 and intended to have Panama as co-host, but it had to be postponed due to the COVID pandemic. Costa Rica were then named sole host. 

With the 2021 season coming to an unfortunate early finish due to COVID lockdowns, the Parkes & District Amateur Soccer Association committee has been working hard behind the scenes finding ways to wind up the season.

The Policies and Procedures Meeting will be held on Monday, 18th October at 6:30pm at Parkes Bowling & Sports Club. Any application to change current by-laws must be received via email to pdasasecretary@outlook.com.au by 6pm Friday, 15th October. All Open Ladies teams from the 2021 season need to have a representative in attendance.

The Junior Presentation will be held on Saturday, 30th October 1pm at Harrison Park. COVID rules and regulations will still apply with QR check in and social distancing enforced. All participants in our non-competitive junior teams will receive an individual award with a team photo taken. Presentation times for each group are: 1pm – Under 6; 1:30pm – Under 8; 2pm – Under 10.

In the competitive age groups only premiers and runner-up trophies will be presented with the individual best and fairest awards. The following teams will receive trophies from 2:30pm: Under 12 Premiers: Strikers; Under 12 Runners-Up: Victory; Open Juniors Premiers: Rangers; Open Juniors Runners-Up: Wolves

No presentation will be held in both divisions of our Open Ladies Competitions with teams instead receiving awards at the compulsory Policies and Procedures meeting. The teams are: 1st Division Premiers: Cougars; 1st Division Runners-Up: Commercial Kookaburras; 2nd Division Premiers: Forbes Power; 2nd Division Runners-Up: Railway Bowling Club.

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday, 8th November at 6pm at Parkes Bowling & Sports Club. All positions on the committee will be declared vacant. Anyone interested in volunteering to join the committee should attend the AGM or email pdasacommittee@outlook.com.au.