Football NSW announces 2020 Biological Maturation policy

This week, Football NSW has revealed their 2020 Biological Maturation policy.

The policy will take into consideration ‘late bloomers’ and ‘early developers’ and will try to accommodate them so they can get the most out of their soccer.

The policy will affect NPLNSW Youth boys and girls teams from the under 13’s to the 16’s for the boys and the under 14’s and 15’s for the girls.

The details on the policy can be found below:

The policy permits that one ‘late bloomer’ will be allowed to play in an age bracket one lower than normal, whereas ‘early developers’ will not be given the same benefits.

The following information seeks to clarify the eligibility of players for the 2020 Season in relation to Biological Maturation Approved Players:

Players assessed as Late Developers:

  • Any player that is assessed as a “late developer” will be given approval to play down an age grade at their club provided that the club has a position(s) available in the team that the player is seeking to register with.

Players Assessed as “on time developers” or “early developers”

  • Any player that is assessed as a “on-time developer” or “early developer” will NOT be permitted to play down an age grade at their club.

Please Note: All players will be required to attend one of the advertised FNSW assessment dates. No Player will retain their 2019 status.

Team Eligibility for 2020

Further to the above, the following is the process for clubs to manage the number of Biological Maturation players per team throughout the registration window for the 2020 Football season:

The age groups below for which the Biological Maturation principle will apply for the 2020 season:

  • Boys: NPL NSW Youth, NPL NSW 2 Youth & Association Youth League – U13, U14, U15, U16; and
  • Girls: NPL NSW Youth, NPL NSW 2 Youth & Girls Conference League – U14, U15

Current Squad Numbers:

  • No club/team will be able to register a Player to play in an age grade below the player’s birth year if that player has been assessed as a “on time developer” or “early developer”;
  • Each club will be permitted to register a maximum of one (1) approved “late developer” per team/age grade
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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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