Jim Hardy set to step back at Kensington Soccer Club

Built for the neighbourhood

The report says Kensington’s model grew by taking football into local spaces rather than asking families to travel across the city.

  • It reportedly began with 18 children
  • It now reaches around 2,000 participants each year
  • Sessions are said to run across 25 schools, parks, playgrounds and recreation centres

That matters because the club’s identity appears to be tied to removing the barriers that often shut young players out early: transport, cost and lack of nearby facilities. The “pay what you can” structure, as described in the update, seems central to that approach.

More than a team

Kensington Soccer Club has never sounded like a standard youth club. Reports suggest it combines in-house and travel teams with school and after-school work focused on violence prevention, literacy and work-readiness.

That broader mission is what gives the leadership change extra weight. This is not only about who picks up daily administration. It is about who protects a community model that reportedly links football to stability and opportunity in an area that has long needed both.

Why the handover matters

Noisette, according to the report, joined the organisation in 2021 and has already led work in funding, coach licensing and government relations. That background looks important because the next challenge appears less about starting the project and more about sustaining and scaling it.

Hardy’s legacy, if this handover proceeds as described, will be in proving that a local club can become a community institution. The next storyline to watch is whether Kensington can keep that neighbourhood-first ethos intact while increasing fundraising and expanding its reach under new day-to-day leadership.