Women's football continues to thrive in the Illawarra, and the local community is ready to stop and celebrate these exciting achievements.
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Football South Coast will host an array of events to celebrate Female Football Week, an Australia-wide initiative that will run from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 12.
Female Football Week celebrates the growth of women's football at all levels of the round-ball game across the nation and acknowledges the important role that women play in the sport.
FSC will run various free come and try events during Female Football Week, including a Mums and Minis program, and a Girls Love Football program.
"We're in particular excited to celebrate all of the local clubs and the females who are involved in every aspect of the game," FSC female football manager Sonya Keir told the Mercury.
"We're seeing women running clubs and volunteering, and getting involved just to make sure that the girls can get teams together and get on the field - it's really inspiring.
"We're looking forward to celebrating and honouring the passion of those females."
The impact of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup being held in Australia continues to be felt in the Illawarra, which has seen a significant growth in female involvement in Football South Coast programs.
FSC's women's player registrations are up by 28 per cent across all ages in the past 12 months.
In the youth grades, Miniroos girls teams (ages five to 11 years) have increased by 50 per cent, while there has also been significant growth for girls youth teams (43 per cent).
Female referee registrations are up by 23 per cent, while there are 24 per cent more women's volunteers - including coaches and club officials - involved in the game compared to last year.
Other highlights in the past 12 months include FSC launching an inaugural over-40s women's competition and running a Mini World Cup for U12s and U13s girls.
"We are so excited, the growth in females from ages five to 65 in football is unbelievable," Keir said.
"It's not just in the playing space, we're seeing growth in terms of volunteers, coaches and managers as well. It's really inspiring to see that enthusiasm and everybody registering to be part of the game.
"We can see everybody still talking about the Matildas, and their amazing achievements. And everyone is also really pumped for the upcoming Olympics.
"We're riding that wave of excitement continuously, which is awesome."
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
