On Saturday 19 August, prior to the CommBank Matildas playing Sweden in the third place play off, four teams represented by 40 female players between 14 and 16 years old played in the Beyond Greatness™ Community Football Tournament, organised by FIFA at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Two of these teams, Hurlstone Park Wanderers and Kissing Point FC, who achieved the Club Changer 1 Star status were rewarded with this experience for demonstrating their commitment to the development of Women & Girls Football at their club.
Kissing Point FC have been focusing on developing Female Leaders including coaches & referees, and attracting and retaining volunteers, as well as growing their Girls MiniRoos teams.
Hurlstone Park Wanderers FC are utilising Legacy Funding to develop female coaches & volunteers, deliver Women and Girls social programs, and to create links to local schools.
The two other teams comprised of the New South Wales State Indigenous Representative Teams, who competed in the annual NAIDOC Cup, a newly established tournament for selected Indigenous footballers aged 13 to 16 to representing Northern NSW Football and Football NSW.
Three female referees officiated the tournament which saw the players joined by legends from previous World Cups including Brazil’s Formiga, France’s Laura Georges, and England internationals Kelly Smith & Fara Williams, play, in front of a crowd of over 1,000 spectators in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Football Australia’s Club Changer, Club Development Program is a National Program which aims to empower community clubs to strategically plan to increase capacity and participation growth, through education, resources, and transfer of knowledge. The program is part of Legacy ’23, a strategic plan to harness the growth of women’s football and deliver enduring benefits for Australia’s largest community sport beyond 2023, an initiative proudly supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).
To know more about Football Australia’s Club Changer and Legacy ’23 visit:
