Kat Smith accepted into FIFA Coach Mentorship Programme

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FA Kat Smith

Football Australia has announced that CommBank Junior Matildas Assistant Coach and Analyst – and newly appointed Western Sydney Wanderers Head Coach Kat Smith – has been named as one of 20 female coaches to be accepted into the second edition of the FIFA Coach Mentorship Programme.

The program will see 20 female coaches from across the globe mentored by some of the leading figures in coaching, including Australians Tom Sermanni and Joe Montemurro.

Smith, who has been paired with Athletic Bilbao Women’s head coach, Iraia Iturregi, is thrilled to be presented with further opportunities to continue her development in her chosen profession.

“I am incredibly honoured and grateful to have this opportunity and am appreciative of the support of Football Australia, who championed my application to be a part of the programme,” Smith said in a statement.

“It pays homage to those that have backed me in the past and opportunities I’ve had because of their belief.  I am extremely excited about the possibility of continuing my coaching journey and fortunate to expand my expertise and experiences through accessing a global network.”

An AFC Pro-Licenced coach, Smith’s involvement in the game spans 20 years, with the now Western Sydney Wanderers head coach having been involved at all levels of women’s football.

Her football career has seen her hold positions as a Skills Acquisition Trainer, National Premier Leagues Technical Director (Green Gully FC), a Team Manager, NPL Head Coach (Galaxy United and Alamein FC), Liberty A-League Women’s Assistant Coach (Melbourne Victory), Australian Opposition Analyst for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and CommBank Junior Matildas Assistant Coach and Performance Analyst.

With extensive experience already in varied positions, Smith is hoping that the Programme adds to her understanding of her profession for the betterment of the players she coaches.

“This opportunity, I’m hoping, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from across the globe to open my mind to new ways of doing and thinking in the game.  With the high calibre of Mentors, it will provide challenges that lead to growth and harness courage,” she added.

“I want to explore how that knowledge can be brought back to platforms and programs here in Australia that help shape further growth initiatives in our game and allow us to better equip the next generation of athletes for the world stage.

“On a personal level, this Programme allows for that individual and professional development to happen on the job, and that’s what you want. With this set-up, you can apply new learnings and new skills and continue to develop your craft so you are having the most positive impact you can on the game.”

 

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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