La Liga and UC partnership to professionalise the industry

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Representatives from La Liga and the University of Canberra (UC) shared their intentions to professionalise the local sports industry through their partnership at a webinar on Thursday night.

La Liga’s educational department, the La Liga Business School and the University of Canberra announced a collaborative agreement last week. The partnership will see La Liga Business School and the University of Canberra work on educational projects together.

Speaking at the ‘Beyond 2020: Professional Football Strategy – A discussion with La Liga’ webinar, LaLiga’s delegate in Australia and New Zealand, Glen Rolls said that it was exciting to be able to partner with the University of Canberra in La Liga’s first partnership in education in Australia.

“We certainly look forward to developing more programs to help … professionalise the industry moving forward,” he said.

“It’s great to be able to share our knowledge in each of these markets but we also want to be able to learn, to be able to grow as an organisation itself. So, there is certainly some key learnings that we can also learn as an organisation from the local football industry here.”

The webinar was the first event held by La Liga and the University of Canberra since the partnership was announced.

University of Canberra Academic and former FIFA Assistant Referee Allyson Flynn said that the university is developing a robust sporting reputation worldwide.

“UC is excited to partner with the La Liga Business School to achieve the objectives of the La Liga’s international development strategy,” Flynn said.

“There are several synergies that arise through the aim of professionalising sports management education and the local sports industry.

“The university is well equipped to co-develop and deliver material with our industry partners such as Capital Football.

“This partnership reaffirms UC is the home of sport and UC’s place as a leader and innovator in sports management education.”

Capital Football CEO Phil Brown and Villarreal C.F Business Development Manager Mar Llaneza also spoke at the event.

Phil Brown said that the partnership would help the sports industry both in Canberra and across Australia.

“I think it’s a great opportunity especially for the young, up and coming sports administrators that might be able to access some learning from some of the best in the world in a partnership with the University of Canberra,” he said.

 

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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