Football NSW Announces Female Football Week 2025

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Image Credit: Sutherland Shire Football Association

Football NSW will be celebrating Female Football Week (FFW), recognising women and girls in football from May 2 to 11.

FFW is a nationwide initiative celebrating the significant growth of women’s football at all levels and recognising the vital role women play in developing the game.

The FFW Awards offer a valuable opportunity to recognise and celebrate the significant contributions of women and girls in football, highlighting their essential role in all aspects of the game. To honour the exceptional female champions within the club, nominations are being held for each of the following categories:

  • Female Player of the Year
  • Female Coach of the Year
  • Female Referee of the Year
  • Female Volunteer of the Year
  • Community Champion of the Year

Each category winner will receive a prize and be nominated as Football NSW’s representative for the National FFW Awards.

Throughout the week, Football NSW and our Associations/Clubs will also actively participate in delivering female football events, including:

  • Female Football Rounds
  • Come + Try Sessions
  • Free Skills Clinics
  • Festival of Football

Football NSW’s Head of Women’s and Schools Football Hayley Todd expressed excitement about maintaining the momentum after a record number of community FFW events were held in 2024.

“As we reflect on the incredible growth of female football, it’s clear that the passion and commitment of female players, coaches, referees, administrators and volunteers are reshaping the landscape of the sport,” said Todd via press release.

“Celebrating the role of women and girls in football is not just about acknowledging achievements on and off the pitch; it’s about inspiring future generations to continue breaking barriers. Together, we are not just changing the game; we are redefining it.”

The growth of female football across all areas has been remarkable, with 2024 seeing record registrations across all participant types.

Female player registrations rose by 17%, while female coaches saw an impressive 36% increase, referees grew by 16%, and volunteers grew by 15%.

To learn more information on Football NSW’s Female Football Week, click here.

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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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Image Credit: Shutterstock

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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