Australia’s overseas footballers set to benefit from digitally-led nutrition support

Football Australia has announced an extension and expansion of their partnership with Compeat Nutrition – an innovative company that is revolutionising nutrition centred healthcare in performance sports and the general population, through to August 2022.

The partnership supports Football Australia’s endeavours to provide world class environments and support to Australia’s national team players in order to help them cope with performance expectations and to improve holistically as athletes and people both during and after their careers.

Footballers in each of Australia’s women’s and men’s national football teams – from the Westfield Junior Matildas and Joeys to the Westfield Matildas and Socceroos – will have access to Compeat Nutrition’s digital platform, with scaled levels of support to athletes via virtual meetings and one-on-one consultations available also.

The platform – which has been developed to deliver scientific and proven dietetic advice in an environment that builds resilience, helps forge good habits and ensures a truly individualised solution – removes the barriers of geography and time to ensure that Australian football’s elite global player bases have real-time access to 24-7 nutritional support.

Andrew Clark, Football Australia’s High Performance Coordinator, explained that Compeat Nutrition has provided nutritional to the Westfield Matildas, Westfield Young Matildas and Future Matildas for the past two years. And now, following positive feedback and outcomes, the platform has been expanded to a larger pool of players across female and male programs.

“We’ve witnessed some encouraging results and received some positive feedback from our women’s national team players since the platform was introduced to them two years ago,” Clark explained. “In partnership with Compeat Nutrition, we’ve now taken the opportunity to extend the support to a larger pool of players based at clubs in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America, ensuring that they can access nutritional support regardless of what time zone they are in.”

“We’re always striving to find ways that we can support players while at their clubs, in preparation for their national team duties, and in international qualification and tournament mode. This service will assist many Australian footballers to develop healthy nutritional habits that they can use throughout their careers and in life after football.”

Compeat Nutrition co-founder and leading performance dietitian, Alicia Edge, said Football Australia’s digitally focused approach to supporting footballers based all over the globe was a progressive move that can lead to individual and team performance benefits.

“Football Australia is focused on delivering the best nutritional outcomes and support for their athletes,” Edge said.

“At Compeat Nutrition, we are deeply honoured to have the opportunity to partner with Football Australia in helping Australia’s best footballers at different stages in their careers to better train, compete and recover through their nutritional intake.

“It is so gratifying to build a supportive, mobile environment that Australia’s elite footballers can take with them no matter where they go in the world. By engaging with Compeat, athletes will receive comprehensive education and sustained awareness of the impact of nutrition and wellbeing on performance that is vital for individual and team success at international level.”

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Football Victoria recognised in Pride in Sport Index 2026

The Silver Status shows Football Victoria‘s commitment to providing Victorians with a safe, inclusive landscape for all to enjoy the beautiful game.

Everyone’s game

Earlier this month, the Australian Pride in Sport Awards recognised several organisations and individuals across the nation who continue to champion inclusive spaces in the world of sport.

Among the nominees was Football Victoria, who received the Silver Status. FV Executive Manager Equity, Programs and Government Relations, Karen Pearce, expressed her pride at the achievement.

“Achieving Silver Status in the Pride in Sport Index is an important reflection of the work being done across Football Victoria to ensure LGBTQ+ people feel safe, welcomed and included in our game,” Pearce said via official press release.

“We remain committed to embedding inclusive practices across all levels of football, and continuing to create environments where everyone can belong, participate and thrive.”

 

Inclusion matters

While recognition is always a positive reflection of successful work behind the scenes, it is important to remember what the work intends to achieve.

Football – and sport in general – is a unique opportunity to bring diverse communities together, and to compete, spectate and enjoy the game on an equal playing field.

Furthermore, as custodians of ‘the world’s game’, governing bodies, fans and players around the world all share the responsibility to empower marginalised groups to feel included.

Two months ago, The Premier League introduced their own initiative – Premier League With Pride – reflecting their own commitment to ensuring football grounds, schools and academies remain welcoming.

 

Final thoughts

There is no place for hate or abuse in football, whether on a grassroots field or professional stadium.

Football Victoria will continue its journey and commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community – at all levels of the game – for many seasons to come.

Football Queensland to celebrate Female Football Week with statewide events, awards and coaching programs

Brighton women's football motion

Football Queensland will mark the 2026 Female Football Week with a program of statewide events, competitions and professional development opportunities running from May 8-17, as the governing body continues to push for broader access and representation across all levels of the women’s game in Queensland.

The nationwide initiative, now a fixture on the Australian football calendar, provides a concentrated period of visibility for female participation across playing, coaching, officiating and administration: areas where structural underrepresentation has historically limited both the growth of the game and the opportunities available to women and girls within it.

“Female Football Week provides us with a valuable opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women and girls across our game while continuing to increase the accessibility of football in Queensland,” said Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci. “We encourage our clubs to host their own Female Football Week events and activations for female participants.”

 

Elite Competition Meets Community Access

The centrepiece of Football Queensland’s program is the return of the NPL Women’s Magic Round to Nudgee Recreation Reserve on May 8 and 9, featuring five NPL Women’s Round 13 clashes alongside a Girls United Junior Carnival and family-friendly activations. Each Magic Round game will feature an all-female refereeing panel, a deliberate and visible commitment to developing the next generation of female match officials at a moment when referee shortages are among the most pressing structural challenges facing the game nationally.

A Women in Football networking event will be held on the opening night of Magic Round, bringing together coaches, match officials and administrators. The inclusion of that event alongside elite competition is significant because it positions professional development and community building not as supplementary activities but as core components of what Female Football Week is for.

The Central Coast region will host its own Magic Round on May 16, featuring a Youth Girls game and three FQPL Central Coast Women’s matches, while a Darling Downs Junior Girls Day will take place at Captain Cook Park on the same day, extending the reach of the week’s programming beyond the southeast corner of the state into regional Queensland.

 

Coaching access as a structural priority

Football Queensland will deliver a series of female-only coaching courses around Female Football Week, with clubs also able to express interest in hosting their own. The initiative addresses one of the most persistent barriers to female representation in football administration- its coaching pipeline.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented at all levels of the game in Australia, and the barriers to accreditation, including cost, availability and the cultural environment of mixed coaching courses, compound one another in ways that individual ambition alone cannot overcome. Female-only courses create environments where women can develop without those barriers, and their delivery during Female Football Week signals that the commitment extends beyond celebration into structural change.

The Girls United Carnivals, running in both Metro and Far North and Gulf regions alongside the Q-League Schools program at Meakin Park, extend that access to players at the earliest stages of their football journey.

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