Football SA to deliver revised Youth Competition structure for 2025

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Football South Australia (Football SA) has revealed a change to its Youth Competition Structure which will be launched in 2025.

This new structure to hit Football SA next year has been based on an extensive two-year review led by Football SA Technical Director Michael Cooper.

A Club Championship model was proposed to Club Presidents at the President’s meeting in November 2023 which was unanimously supported.

The following Youth Club Championship model has been constructed following consultation with individual Clubs, Football SA Technical Department, Advisory Committees.

Ages until Under 9s Mixed and Girls will not have a changed championship system.

This new system will be applied to under 13, 14, 15, 16 mixed & girls’ teams.

Some of the key features include:

  • Consolidated match venues, with teams from the same club playing at one location.
  • A Club Championship table that combines match results with player development metrics.
  • Bonus points for clubs meeting coaching license criteria and utilising player development tracking systems.
  • Point deductions for disciplinary issues, supporting Football SA’s Respect Campaign for match officials. For example, abuse of the Referee or violent conduct receives a -3 championship points.

This was used to ensure the Youth Club Championship is not solely reliant on results and is fostering an improved player development environment and match day culture, points bonuses and deductions will be incorporated in the championship table.

Michael Cooper, Football SA Technical Director, stated via media release:

“This is a huge step in the right direction for football here in SA. We look forward to working with the clubs involved to create many positive youth development environments for the next generations of players, coaches, and officials.”

The overall outcomes from these plans will foster:

  • Enhanced oversight from Club Technical Directors which is key for player development and the different clubs balance of player abilities.
  • Improved match day culture with a “sports day carnival” atmosphere engaging not just highlighting singular teams, but a more united entire club culture.
  • Potential for increased revenue through food and beverage sales
  • A finals series at the season’s conclusion
  • Better fixture scheduling, leading to improved match official coverage and mentoring opportunities

Michael Carter, Football SA CEO, commented:

“Having the best players matched against the best week in week out, combined with a finals series for our youth will be great additions to the metropolitan competition.”

This new Youth Championship is created importantly to help kids play in a supportive and safe environment. This will encourage the passion of the game and hopefully bring the much needed increase in positive sporting behaviour.

The overachieving South Australia is truly leading the way in positive you football development.

It will be interesting to see the outcomes in the coming years.

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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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