The Pitchside Report

NEWS

We hosted our first ‘Train with a Matilda’ at PitchUp partner venue, Ballarat Grammar ⚽️ School holiday camp opportunity for schools - is your school next?

About three years ago, PitchUp was a few squiggly lines on a notepad. CoFounders, Michael and Tom wrote one sentence on the whiteboard in our home office:

"One day we will train with a Matilda on a field at a PitchUp partner venue."

Last term, it happened. Chloe Logarzo and Cortnee Vine joined a session at a PitchUp partner venue in Ballarat for a 3 day soccer camp with a Q&A with parents, students and community.

The moment I keep coming back to wasn't on the field. It was on the sideline.

Two parents were watching the session, and one mentioned, "wow, If this is what happens here, we’d love to learn more about this school and see if it’s a good fit"

That's the part schools don't always see. A single session with an elite athlete didn't just give a group of kids a day they'll remember for years. It showed every family watching what that school stands for. It became a story parents told at pick-up, at work and at the dinner table. For a school, that's worth more than any open-day brochure.

And it brought the whole community together: young players who'll now train a little harder, coaches and volunteers who felt seen, and local families seeing a school as the heart of their neighbourhood rather than a fence they drive past.

Now picture it on your grounds.

Your oval, your courts, your pool. Local clubs calling your school home every week, and the occasional moment that has the whole community talking. Moments like this happen at schools that are ready for them: schools whose facilities are easy to find, safe to book and simple to say yes to.

That's what PitchUp makes possible. And the schools that move first are the ones clubs, associations and athletes will think of first.

👉 Submit an Expression of Interest to be considered for our next onboarding round in term 4.

Helping schools create opportunities through sport.

Every PitchUp activation starts with a school. Our platform makes it simple for schools to open their facilities to the community by managing bookings, compliance, payments and hire administration in one place. The result? More participation, additional revenue, and unique experiences like our Train with a Matilda holiday camp.

Interested in becoming a PitchUp partner school?

Term 3 in brief

🏉 We crossed Bass Strait. Launceston Grammar became our first school in Tasmania. They're onboarding their facilities, including pool lanes, to streamline community hire. Launceston has a sporting culture that runs deep, and their leadership team saw what we see: when facilities are easier to book, more clubs find a home. We will be visiting Tasmania in the last week of October so if you want PitchUp to visit your site, please email us at [email protected].

⚽ A landmark in NSW. The Hills Grammar School, home to some of the best facilities in the state, became our first NSW independent school. We will be working with their facilities team to streamline their operations including allowing them to generate more revenue while removing the admin burden for their internal team:

• ✅ Compliance built in: insurance, WWCC and hire agreements in one place

• ✅ One system for the whole facilities team

• ✅ Microsoft calendar integration, so school and community bookings stay in sync with no double-ups

• ✅ Automation from phone call to playing: fewer emails, less admin, faster confirmations

🧭 Listening first in South Australia. We spent time on the ground in Adelaide with school leaders, facilities teams and SportSA. We didn't go to pitch. We went to understand how SA schools and clubs work together: where the friction is, which spaces are most in demand, and what a "yes" from a school means for a local club looking for a home. Every school we met shared the same goal of serving their community without overloading their staff. What we learned is already shaping our roadmap, and we're looking forward to welcoming our first South Australian schools.

🎤 Taking the conversation national. At PolicyFest 7 at the National Sports & Physical Activity Convention in Melbourne, I joined Kym Rizzo Liu and Laura Thompson ONZM on a panel about unlocking schools' potential to lift participation.

We were also given the incredible opportunity to present to VINE (the Victorian ICT Network for Education) and heard directly from IT and operations leaders about what matters most to their schools. We came away with some fantastic learnings and insights to take forward.

Helping schools create opportunities through sport.

Every PitchUp activation starts with a school. Our platform makes it simple for schools to open their facilities to the community by managing bookings, compliance, payments and hire administration in one place. The result? More participation, additional revenue, and unique experiences like our Train with a Matilda holiday camp.

Interested in becoming a PitchUp partner school?

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Digital Solutions Designed For Schools: EWS

PitchUp Partner, Education Web Solutions, helps schools tell their story. Specialising exclusively in school websites, photography, videography and digital media, their team partners with schools to create engaging online experiences that strengthen community connections and showcase what makes every school unique. From website design and ongoing support to stunning visual content, Education Web Solutions makes your school's digital presence simple, professional and impactful. EWS are also able to support PitchUp being embedded in school websites easily which is a popular solution. Visit their website to find out more.