NWS Spirit and Koalas to merge

Following the successful establishment of North West Sydney Football from the merger of GHFA and North West Sydney Women’s Football Association, the boards of NWSF, Spirit and Koalas have confirmed the forthcoming merger of the NWS Spirit FC and NWS Koalas FC.

The formalities of merging the clubs will take place during 2021 with the intention of entering all NWS teams in the 2022 Football NSW Competitions under the new entity.

Whilst NWS Spirit and NWS Koalas currently operate as separate club structures, the two clubs have collaborated in 2020 and 2021, sharing resources and coaching support across all teams as well as having joint training activities.

More efficient use of the facilities at Christie Park has also resulted.

A number of initiatives such as the joint 2020 shirt presentation have already occurred successfully, and more are planned in 2021.

As major stakeholder, the NWSF board saw the merger as a logical next step and are delighted on the collaborative approach.

A working party has been established to drive the merger with representatives from both clubs and the NWSF Board.

The benefits of a merged entity include pooling of resources, reduced costs and consolidated workload for volunteers and will result in a more cohesive club for their representative players and a consistent pathway for its Association players.

The benefit in combining the men’s and women’s programs will be as quoted by Sport Australia, that “mixed training and competition can foster mutual respect; improve both boys’ and girls’ social skills; enhance resilience; and provide experiences that will help them in their broader lives.”

At this stage, the name of the new entity is yet to be established, and the working party is actively seeking suggestions from players and parents.

For any questions, please email nwsf@nwsf.com.au