The NSW Government Office Of Sport, Local Sport Grant Program aims to support grassroots sporting clubs to increase participation, host events, improve access and enhance sport and recreation facilities.
This is a great resource that can provide impactful opportunities for local Touch Associations. Recently, a handful of Touch Associations were successfully granted this program which will enable major support and growth for their local community.
Bankstown Touch Association
Bankstown Touch Association’s grant success represents a major boost for the sport, enabling significant upgrades across facilities, equipment, and development programs. The funding will support the purchase of new field corner posts, volunteer uniforms, field signage corflutes, table covers, footballs, playing kits, and access to coach and referee education courses. Together, these investments will elevate the presentation and overall competition experience, while strengthening the pathway to attract, develop, and retain current and future coaches, referees, and volunteers.
Central Coast Touch Association
The successful grant application is going towards the All Abilities Program. This program is designed to empower players with intellectual and/or physical impairments to learn touch skills alongside family, friends, carers, and elite athletes. Our dedicated coaches are committed to fostering a fun, safe, and inclusive environment where participants can cultivate lifelong friendships and enhance their physical and mental wellbeing. Commendably, we had two of our participants play for Hunter Western Hornets at Nationals in March. The goal in 2026-2027 is to build our own rep team to compete at Senior State Cup.
The $5,500 contribution will go towards the purchase 16 high-density foam goal post pads across our 8 Touch Football fields. This will directly benefit our 1,121 members by improving player safety and creating a more professional playing environment, as well as the wider community who use our fields for holiday clinics, school events, carnivals, and regional selections.
As a training hub for the Northern Eagles Touch Football Association, we regularly host gala days, holiday clinics, and representative selection trials, attracting players and families from across Northern NSW. The improved safety standards will give players of all ages and abilities greater confidence to participate and perform at their best.
Evans Head Touch Association
This particular grant was for the development and introduction of their Junior Competition. This includes playing shirts, referee shirts, representative uniforms, marquees, field flags and feathers. All things that are involved with the administration, sport and event side of a new competition will be greatly supported to increase success and participation.
Peninsula Juniors Touch Association
Peninsula will be using their funding to run development clinics at the club for juniors to upskill kids in the area. The investment funded 30 new touch footballs for junior teams, three player development clinics ahead of the 2025/2026 season, and dedicated development sessions for coaches and referees to build volunteer and officiating capacity. It also supported weekly line marking and field preparation for the full summer season, subsidised registrations for at least 20 junior players experiencing financial hardship, and enabled the recruitment and training of 10 new volunteer coaches and assistants — ensuring the club grows both its participation and its community impact.
MORE INFO
To learn more about the Local Sports Program click here.