Gippsland’s community football clubs are set for a stronger season ahead, with more than $90,000 awarded to 32 local clubs through the 2025 Telstra Footy Country Grants program.
This year’s allocation has lifted the two-year total invested in the region to over $160,000.
From volunteer training and participation initiatives to safety improvements and facility upgrades, the funding is designed to strengthen clubs on and off the field.
Across Gippsland, this has meant practical, high-impact projects such as new scoreboards and goal-netting, electronic point-of-sale systems for busy canteens, line-marking and safety works, defibrillators, and Indigenous and Pride guernseys, each helping clubs offer a safer, more welcoming game-day experience.
AFL Gippsland, Club Development lead Nicole Bertuna said the investment is already translating into tangible benefits for players, volunteers and families.
“This funding supports the everyday moments that make community footy possible, volunteers who feel backed,
kids who see themselves represented, and clubs that run more safely and smoothly,” Bertuna said.
Brand new to the Warragul and District Junior Football League (W&DJFL) in 2025, the Nilma Darnum Junior Football Club has secured $10,000 to help establish its program and meet start-up costs, a critical boost for a young club building from the ground up.
Club secretary, Kate Campbell said funding will support foundation essentials such as equipment, coach-education resources, first-aid and safety items, and the operational pieces that ensure kids can enjoy footy from day one.
“For a brand-new junior club, every dollar goes straight to giving local kids a great experience and means we can set up properly, safe, organised and welcoming, without asking families to carry the full load,” Campbell said.
With continued national backing of the program over the next two years, Gippsland clubs can plan ahead with confidence.
The 2026 round is expected to reopen in December, and AFL Gippsland will again work closely with clubs on eligibility checks, project scoping, budgets, quotes and acquittal planning, as well as connecting committees to examples of successful projects across the region.
