Officer City SC growing female football through GO Girls

Staff Writer

During the disruptions and devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Officer City SC saw an opportunity to grow its women and girls program.

The club enlisted itself in the Changemakers Project, an initiative designed to equip sporting organisations to create tangible and meaningful changes that will lead to a growth of female participation.

Supplementing this, Officer City received funding from Football Victoria to run a GO Girls program – a fun, social and non-competitive program aimed at getting more young girls, aged between 12-16, involved in the beautiful game.

The combination of Change Makers and GO Girls revolutionised Officer City SC’s women and girls program, with Club President Cheree Appledore stating it did wonders to boost participation and introduce more young girls than ever before to football.

“GO Girls was a game changer for the club. It allowed us to reach young girls through a tailored program that is specifically designed to introduce girls of all skill levels to our sport,” she said.

“The age group which we targeted historically didn’t have as many new participants, but the interest we have received just in Term 1 of this year for GO Girls Program has made us scramble to find more space for them. Something which we have been more than happy to do.”

As a result of the GO Girls grant, Officer City SC was able to provide free club memberships to the GO Girls participants and fully fund the appointment of the program’s leader, Amelia.

“The girls came in wanting to be introduced to the sport now have a passion for the sport and a first in our clubs history we have our very first female team,” she added.

“We are beyond pumped and really do see this expanding to even more female teams over the next few years. As a club we want our members to be a representation of our areas demographic which is 50% female.”

After previously lacking female participation, the club’s willingness to adopt the GO Girls program has had an enormous impact on introducing new young women and girls to football.

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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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