The growth of Melbourne’s Western Corridor is one of the most exciting strategies in the state. New housing, employment opportunities, transport options, town centers, and open space plans are in place to ensure infrastructure growth matches the population boom.
Part of those growth plans is providing options for organized physical activities for the new locals, and few clubs have played a more significant role in that than the Truganina Lions Football Club.
It’s hard to believe that when Truganina FC, February’s Victorian Club Changer of the Month, joined Football Victoria (FV) in 2022 they had only four teams entered in the FV competition.
Club Changer is Football Australia’s Club Development Program that aims to protect and enhance affiliated clubs, make them stronger and more resilient, lead them in building welcoming and inclusive cultures, and educate them on positive environments for players, coaches, volunteers, and officials while planning for long-term viability and success.
The program has supported Truganina in growing the female presence at the Club, both on and off the pitch.
The club has grown from 17 teams in 2024 to a total of 30 teams across the Club in 2025, an increase from 220 players in 2024 to 360 in 2025. And, with teams in each age group from U7s to U12s, the girls’ teams have increased from four in 2024 to six teams in 2025.
And the club has been able to increase female committee & subcommittee members in 2025, currently having four in the Club, to have at least a 60:40 male-to-female ratio in line with FV’s requirement for members on the Club’s board.
Club President Khalid Mansoor is thrilled with the role the Club plays in this growing community and praised both the CommBank ‘Growing Football Fund’ supported by Club Changer and the Club Coach Coordinator (CCC) program for helping the Club establish itself as the go-to club for the area.
“A great part of this has been possible thanks to the CommBank ‘Growing Football Fund’ supported by Club Changer which has supported us with the financial side of running these initiatives for females, as well as beneficial programs for the Club overall.”
“The CCC Gold Package was also commenced for all the Coaches and Assistant Coaches at the Club in 2025, which will impart value to our Coaches who support both boys and girls programs.”
The Club is focused on increasing female participation, recently running a MiniTilles Program over four weeks to promote the game to young girls looking to learn the basic skills of football. Truganina’s MiniTilles Program demonstrated that girls are keen to play football and were able to retain 14 of the 38 participants thanks to this program. The Club will continue to run the MiniTilles Program in the June/July and September/October rounds of school holidays.
The Club also intends to run a ‘Come & Try – Football’ program for Girls aged 12 to 16 years between the 5th and 17th of April, with a vision to form an U14s or U15s Girls team ahead of the 2025 season.
As we all know, a game of football doesn’t start without a referee blowing the whistle. With that in mind, the Club also aims to have girls from this age group involved in refereeing courses (after upskilling them on Junior Level 4 Referee Courses), that will grow their young volunteer base in 2025 and beyond.
