GIS Launches Women in Sport Scholarship to Empower the Next Generation of Female Leaders

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Image Credit: Global Institute of Sport

The Global Institute of Sport (GIS) is proud to announce the launch of the Women in Sport Scholarship, designed to empower exceptional female students who aspire to become leaders and change-makers in the sports industry.

This scholarship is dedicated to women committed to enhancing opportunities and access for females in sports. Recipients will receive 25% off tuition fees and exclusive access to the GIS Scholars mentorship program, providing invaluable guidance and support as they prepare to make their mark in the sporting world.

The Women in Sport Scholarship aligns with GIS’s Courage value, celebrating bold, passionate leadership and a drive for excellence. “We are excited to support women who are not only talented and ambitious but also determined to make a genuine impact in sport,” said a spokesperson for GIS.

GIS offers a comprehensive suite of scholarships that recognise ambition, leadership, and impact across every corner of the sports industry. From supporting elite athletes and entrepreneurs to championing diversity, inclusion, and community projects, GIS scholarships reflect the institute’s core EPICC values: Entrepreneurship, Partnership, Impact, Curiosity, and Courage.

Scholarship Highlights:

  • Financial support through tuition fee reductions
  • Mentorship and networking opportunities through the GIS Scholars program
  • Tailored opportunities to pursue leadership, innovation, and community impact in sport

The Women in Sport Scholarship is part of GIS’s broader scholarship offering, including:

  • Global Scholarships: Open to all GIS undergraduate and postgraduate applicants, recognising leadership, creativity, and positive change in sport
  • Regional & Changemaker Scholarships: Supporting students making an impact in local sporting communities across India, Africa, and Europe
  • Campus-Specific Scholarships: Exclusive to GIS campuses in Sydney and Brussels, and partner pathways such as Minerva Virtual Academy

Applications for the January 2026 intake are now closed. Students interested in the Women Onside Scholarship can apply now, and GIS’s full suite of scholarships for September 2026 will open soon.

Eligibility:

  • Female students holding an offer for a GIS online or on-campus degree in Brussels or Miami

For more information and to apply, visit GIS Scholarships.

About the Global Institute of Sport (GIS)

GIS is a leading global educational provider preparing students to become influential leaders across the sports industry. Through its innovative programmes, scholarship opportunities, and industry partnerships, GIS supports the next generation of sports entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers.

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UEFA and Japanese FA commit to sustainability strategy until 2031

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Image credit: Vitalii Vitleo / Shutterstock.com

UEFA and the Japanese Football Association (JFA) agreed this week upon a new sustainability protocol agreement, aligning with both organisations’ long term goals.

An inter-continental partnership

Sustainability is an unavoidable, essential factor to consider as the beautiful game continues to grow across communities worldwide.

So when two governing bodies like UEFA and the JFA – who both already hold their own sustainability initiatives – agree to share, support and guide mutual growth, the implications are immensely promising.

“Sustainability in football must be clear, practical and action-oriented,” said UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin, via official press release.

“It is about protecting the environment, but also about people – their health, education and communities – and about using football’s reach to create lasting impact beyond the pitch.”

Furthermore, JFA President, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, also highlighted the undeniable potential born from football’s global powe to bring about genuine, positive changes to the wider population.

“In the global football community today, how we address social issues – such as climate change, human rights, discrimination and safeguarding – has become a crucial theme.”

“In JFA’s growth strategy for 2026 to 2031, we have positioned sustainability as one of our three ‘beams’. Under our social programme, Asu-pass!, we are advancing initiatives centred on five key areas: planet, people, well-being, education and community,” Miyamoto continued.

 

The responsibility of all

With 250 million players in association football, and total fanbases encompassing 4-5 billion people, football truly is the world’s game.

But despite the pride behind this affectionate nickname, there must also be an awareness of the game’s resulting impact.

Because if football touches the lives of 5 billion people, the policies and plans in place must focus on sustaining, supporting and growing everyone.

UEFA’s Sustainability Strategy 2030 seeks to drive positive change through focusing on the sport’s wider impact, long-term investment and objectives, and working as a collective unit.

JFA’s Asu-pass! also builds on the JFA philosophy of enriching societies through the widespread love of football. Thus, by partnering with UEFA and creating a platform for sharing expertise and values, communities across both regions are set for a promising future.

“Together, through football, we want to contribute to a better society and a brighter future,” stated Miyamoto, underlining exactly what this alliance between UEFA and JFA is all about.

Football Victoria’s Female Football Week Awards Recognise the People Empowering Women’s Football

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Image Credit: Football Victoria

Football Victoria has named its 2026 Female Football Week Award winners, recognising five women whose contributions across playing, coaching, refereeing, volunteering and community leadership represent the human infrastructure behind the most significant period of growth in Australian women’s football history.

The announcements come in the final days of Female Football Week, a ten-day national celebration that has taken on particular resonance in 2026 following a record-breaking AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Australian soil. The tournament filled stadiums, broke attendance records and generated a level of public enthusiasm for women’s football that governing bodies are now under pressure to translate into something lasting. These five recipients are among the people who will determine whether it does.

Brooke Wyatt of Trafalgar Victory FC has been named Volunteer of the Year. Her contribution was coordinating the MiniRoos, managing match days, organising club events and driving recruitment efforts that have helped the club field new junior teams. Wyatt’s work is the kind of work that keeps community football functioning without ever appearing in a match report. Wyatt has also been central to strengthening Trafalgar’s women’s program, building the welcoming environment that determines whether female players feel the club was built with them in mind.

Karishma Wijeyesinghe of Victoria Park FC has been recognised as Community Champion of the Year. Serving simultaneously as Senior Women’s Liaison Officer, voting committee member and club captain while maintaining a demanding professional career, Wijeyesinghe has built the women’s program infrastructure that clubs across the country require. Her presence at the decision-making table at Victoria Park is precisely the kind of representation that shapes whether female players feel the game is for them from the moment they walk through the door.

The cost of showing up

Chelsea Phillips of Mt Eliza SC has been named Player of the Year in a recognition that goes well beyond her captaincy of one of the club’s most successful Under-18 groups. Over the past year, Phillips faced a serious neurological health condition that temporarily affected her vision and mobility. She continued attending training and matches throughout, supporting teammates from the sidelines and maintaining a leadership presence during a period when most people would have stepped away entirely. Her club has described the impact on those around her as profound; a reminder that what players model for each other in difficult moments shapes the culture of a program far more than results alone.

Hannah Riess has been named Referee of the Year for her rapid progression to NPL Women’s Under-20 officiating level and her active mentorship of emerging referees across Gippsland. Female referees remain significantly underrepresented at every level of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that is built by people like Riess, those experienced enough to progress, invested enough to bring others with them rather than simply move ahead alone.

Building the pipeline that sustains the boom

Natasha Groves of Darebin Falcons has been recognised as Coach of the Year for her work across junior, senior and women’s social football programs, including her delivery of Football Victoria’s PlayHER initiative and her completion of advanced coaching accreditation. Groves has consistently created environments at Darebin where women and girls new to the game feel genuinely welcome, addressing the retention challenge that sits directly behind every participation surge the women’s game generates.

Taken together the five recipients illustrate something the attendance figures from the AFC Women’s Asian Cup cannot. Record crowds are the visible outcome of decades of invisible work, by volunteers, coaches, referees and community builders who showed up long before the cameras did, and who will still be there long after the tournament has moved on.

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