Women in leadership network launched by New Zealand Football

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Image credit: New Zealand Football

The Ford Women in Leadership Graduate Network has been launched by New Zealand Football with the aim to continue supporting the learning and development of more than 100 graduates of the Ford Women in Leadership Programme.

The Ford Women in Leadership Programme, launched in 2020 and expanded as part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 legacy plan, focuses on developing leadership skills, addressing biases in women’s football, and creating a community of female leaders dedicated to enhancing their influence on the game.

The programme has seen graduates from various sectors of football, including New Zealand Football, the six regional football federations, community clubs, and New Zealand Football’s partner, Ford.

The network is designed to provide a space for participants of the Ford Women in Leadership Programme to connect, learn, and grow together. It will also serve as a platform to celebrate the achievements of alumni in football, both in New Zealand and internationally.

As part of the network, participants will be invited to attend a series of events and engage in collaborative opportunities that will help further develop the game.

Paula Hansen, GM of Legacy and Special Projects at New Zealand Football, views the Graduate Network as an essential next step for the success of the Ford Women in Leadership Programme.

One of the notable graduates is Alana Gunn, New Zealand Football’s Women’s Talent Manager and U-17 head coach.

Gunn participated in the programme while coaching in the Women’s National League Championship, and since then, she has advanced to international coaching, further contributing to the growth of women’s football in New Zealand.

“The Ford Women in Leadership programme has been a great success, bringing together participants from across the country to share in an empowering experience,” she said via press release.

“There are thousands of women involved in the game in various roles, yet football remains male-dominated so programmes like this are essential for building connections and creating opportunities for learning and growth.

“The Graduate Network takes this initiative further by connecting over 100 women who have participated in the programme, allowing them to continue growing together, learning from one another, and sharing their experiences of the biggest team sport in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

It will also serve as a platform to honour the achievements of alumni in the game throughout Aotearoa and beyond.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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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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