Football NSW Building Pathways for the Next Generation of Girls

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Football NSW hosted the Girls Football Australia Talent Development Scheme (TDS) event across the 11th and 12th of February. The program brought together 72 players from the under 16s and 17s age groups for two days of training, education and match play designed to support the future of the women’s game.

The program gives talented young players, regardless of background, access to high-level coaching, structured development and clear pathways within football. Across the two days, athletes took part in technical sessions, learning workshops and a competitive showcase match where they demonstrated their progress in a game environment.

Building Pathways in the Women’s Game

Junior Matildas National Team Coach Mike Cooper worked directly with players and coaches, and shared insights on the national development pathway.

“It was great to work with the players and staff over the two-day event, and the talent on show is exciting for the future,” Cooper said. “Events like this are important not only for talent identification, but for making sure young players are given the opportunity to develop in the right environments.”

The event also placed strong emphasis on education and long-term accessibility in the sport. Twenty-six coaches attended a development workshop led by Cooper titled ‘The Importance of Skill Development’. The session explored how grassroots coaching can better support young athletes and create more inclusive opportunities for participation.

Football NSW Player Development Manager Nadine said the event demonstrated the continued growth of the girls’ game.

“We are extremely happy with how well the event went overall. The talent observed across both days in training and matches was certainly impressive,” she said. “Providing these opportunities helps ensure players continue to develop and thrive, and that the pathway remains open to the next generation of footballers.”

As participation in the women’s game continues to grow, initiatives such as the Talent Development Scheme help build a more equitable and accessible football landscape across the state.

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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.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

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In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

 

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

 

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.

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