Dear Sunshine Coast Members,
The 2023 season has been one of success, transformation, challenge, and growth for the region, with our football community remaining steadfast in ensuring local football flourishes.
From a 20-penalty shoot-out victory for the CommBank Matildas at Brisbane Stadium, to another blockbuster Finals Football celebration at Sunshine Coast Stadium, the year has been packed with success on every field.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Fever
The success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ and the CommBank Matildas, who are continuing to inspire a new generation of players across both social and competitive formats of the game, has already delivered an increase in demand for social programs and events for women and girls ahead of the 2024 season. Based on this, Football Queensland is already reserving space for new leagues and products.
It was amazing to see the excitement the World Cup drummed up, not only in our football circles but amongst the broader community who got around the Tillies and supported their campaign. Thank you to the Sunshine Coast Stadium for collaborating with Football Queensland to host two matches on the big screen, where 1,500 and over 2,000 patrons attended each match with their rugs, camp chairs and green and gold shirts.
With the continuation of Girls United Social Leagues, an additional Community Women’s Division, Girls Only Holiday Clinic Days and MiniRoos Kick-Off in 2024, we are continuing to work towards 50/50 gender parity in participation by 2027.
State Award Winners
The Sunshine Coast had another fantastic year at the Football in Queensland Awards Night taking out a host of awards. Congratulations again to Jim Watson & Allan Phillips (Community Coach of the Year – Male), Kirsty Stafford (Community Coach of the Year – Female), Justin Morrison (Futsal Men’s Coach of the Year), Yoel Jogiono (Futsal Women’s Coach of the Year), Zac Keenan (Futsal Referee of the Year & The Mark Shield Medal for Senior Referee of the Year), and Anneka Lewerenz (NPL Women Goalkeeper of the Year) on their outstanding achievements.
A further congratulations to all regional award winners, and the State Finalists from Beerwah Glasshouse United, Maroochydore Swans FC, Sunshine Coast Wave, and the Sunshine Coast referee team!
Events on the Sunshine Coast
Several of the biggest events on the Queensland football calendar returned to Maroochydore FC this year including WinterFest23 and the FQ Junior Cup – this time, with FIFA Women’s World Cup flair. These events bring thousands of visitors from across the state to the region; thank you to Visit Sunshine Coast and the Sunshine Coast Council for their support, and to the members of our football community who travel from as far North as Cairns and as far South as the Gold Coast.
Perhaps the week’s most popular visitor was Tazuni, the official FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ mascot, not to mention the trophy itself, and former Matilda Ellen Beaumont who snapped photos with excited players and families. We look forward to adding Pacific Club Championships to the list of major events in the region for 2024.
For the second year running, the Sunshine Coast Grand Finals took place at the Sunshine Coast Stadium precinct. With over 5,000 patrons attending in person or tuning in via live stream across the day to watch the region’s best junior and McDonald’s FQPL 3 Sunshine Coast talent go head-to-head, we saw Maroochydore Swans’ Women take out another Grand Final win, and Noosa Lions snatch the lead over the Kawana ‘Banana Army’.
Sunshine Coast’s Presence Expanding Across Leagues
The Maroochydore Swans will remain in the FQPL 2 for 2024 and look forward to continuing their campaign as they progress through the connected football and represent the Sunshine Coast, taking with them plenty of local talent.
The Sunshine Coast Wanderers celebrated a huge 2023 for their junior teams, proving the pathway is bright for our young footballers, with three of four Junior Boys teams winning Grand Finals, and all bar one Girls team making the Finals Series.
The FQ Academy Development Centre pilot program kicked off in Terms 2 & 3 for local footballers to gain additional support from C Diploma and above qualified coaches and FQ staff. Players trained and played with their local clubs, and joined their other passionate counterparts from across the region to bank more hours on the grass working on the four core skills. We welcomed over 110 players, facilitated by eight coaches on Sunday mornings at Maroochydore.
Looking ahead to 2024, Sunshine Coast United joins the FQ Academy 3 Leagues in the Under 10 to Under 18 Boys leagues. Sunshine Coast United is an advanced junior player development program delivered by Football Queensland to further expand pathway opportunities in the Sunshine Coast region. With talent ID complete, we look forward to commencing pre-season training and games in mid-January.
Sunshine Coast Referees Across the State
As part of the SEQ competition structure, our Sunshine Coast referees are fortunate enough to travel between Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and regional areas for development in advanced leagues.
Congratulations to Emmitt Drinnan, Brenton Liaropoulos, Julian Nisbett, Connor Evans and Jordan Doughty who were selected in the Football Queensland Referee Academy, designed to provide additional development opportunities for high-performing officials.
In addition, this year’s highlights included an appointment to the Mitre FQPL Champions League Grand Final (Jackson Davis), National Youth Championship appointments (Emmitt Drinnan, Luca Ferroussat and Brenton Liaropoulos), and international futsal appointments in both Australia and New Zealand (Zac Keenan).
We again had great representation in Advanced League Finals appointments, with some local officials even getting the opportunity to officiate at Suncorp Stadium: congratulations to Jay Hudson, Ellie Jones, Zac Keenan, Connor Evans, and Catalina Stylianou, Sebastian Catton, Tristan Goodall, Craig Goodall, Lucas Ferrousat, Brenton Liaropoulos, Jordan Doughty.
Implementing Improved Operating Systems
Following the launch of Squadi, over 150,000 users have been onboarded within the platform. The team at both World Sport Action and Football Queensland have been actively updating the platform in real time, thanks to feedback from users internally and externally, to ensure the platform is as convenient, effective, and user-friendly as possible.
With 2024 registrations live and available for those clubs who wish to open them, we are pleased to be tracking months ahead of the usual schedule to allow clubs to be as prepared for the new season as possible.
Club administrators will be able to attend an in-person workshop in early 2024 in addition to our already occurring online webinars to continue to familiarise themselves with the new features of the platform and use it to its full potential, including canteen functionality, ticket sales and shop features.
On behalf of the Football Queensland Sunshine Coast team we’d like to thank you for your passion, patience, support and collaboration through the season, in both the busier, more testing times and during the fun and exciting times.
We’ve been able to celebrate so much in 2023, and with a successful ‘off-season’ used to enhance and update process and systems, we look forward to improving year on year to deliver football in more formats to engage more participants.
Wishing you a safe and joyful holiday period, and looking forward to seeing you again in 2024 as we return for an even bigger year of football.