Football Coaches Australia and XVenture announce John Moriarty Football scholarships

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In National Reconciliation Week 2021, Football Coaches Australia is pleased to present FCA XVenture Essential Skills program scholarships to Tiffany Stanley and Bryce Deaton, who both coach for John Moriarty Football.

In National Reconciliation Week 2021, Football Coaches Australia is pleased to present FCA XVenture Essential Skills program scholarships to Tiffany Stanley and Bryce Deaton, who both coach for John Moriarty Football (JMF).

Australia’s Reconciliation theme for 2021 is ‘More than a word’. Reconciliation takes action, action which urges the reconciliation movement towards braver and more impactful progress.

Providing Tiffany and Bryce with this FCA XV scholarship opportunity will support them to achieve their goals on their coaching journey.

In awarding the FCA XV scholarships FCA Glenn Warry said: “FCA strongly believes that much more can be done to encourage and support Indigenous Australians to become qualified coaches. At the moment, there are very few Indigenous coaches in the Australian football ecosystem. This is a concerning reality and one we would like to help address now and in the coming years.”

JMF is Australia’s most successful and longest-running Indigenous football program. A transformational skills mastery initiative for 6–18-year-olds, JMF uses football for talent and positive change, improving school attendance and achieving resilient, healthier outcomes in Indigenous communities.

Each week JMF reaches nearly 2,000 Indigenous children in 18 communities across four regional hubs in Dubbo (NSW), Kuranda (QLD), Tennant Creek (NT) and Borroloola (NT).

JMF Co-Founder and Co-Chair and the first Aboriginal to be selected to play football for Australia, John Moriarty, said: “We are very proud of Tiffany and Bryce and their achievements. One of JMF’s biggest strengths is our local coaches of which 63 percent are Indigenous and 40 percent are female.

“Local employment and capacity building is at the heart of what we do and Tiffany and Bryce are wonderful ambassadors for us. Both have achieved a great deal and it is because of their hard work we’ve been able to change the lives of so many Indigenous children and their families,” Mr Moriarty added.

A key focus of JMF is “building local staff capacity through mentoring, education and skills development to access best practice ideas and experience”. These scholarships will support that focus.

Wiradjuri woman Tiffany Stanley is a Community Coach at JMF’s Dubbo hub and is currently the holder of the AFC/FA C License.

“I’ve been coaching for almost two years and I believe it’s only the beginning for me. I want to become the best coach I can be and I believe that this scholarship will give me the opportunity to better myself, help my football coaching knowledge and to help me achieve my educational and coach career goals which are to have a positive mindset and attitude,” she said.

“I want to become a great leader and role model for young Indigenous kids. My biggest goal would be to become the first Indigenous woman to coach the Matildas.”

Aniwan man Bryce Deaton is Head Coach and Mentor at JMF’s Dubbo hub and is currently the holder of an AFC/FA Youth C License.

“This scholarship would give me the opportunity to expand my understanding of how I can improve the way I interact with players and coaches to ensure that I am able to give them the best support they need to succeed in what they want to do, especially in football,” he said.

“I am a huge advocate that coaching has evolved where we are no longer coaching a team, but a group of individuals, where everyone learns, strives, and understands at completely different levels, and as coaches we need to ensure a player is developing continuously.

“I would love to continue through my Coaching Qualifications (including GK levels) to strengthen my contribution to regional NSW football and then on to the elite club level as a GK coach. My biggest goal would be to develop elite programs to continually produce the next players to bring success to the national team.”

Founder of XVenture Mike Conway works with, and mentors, elite players and coaches worldwide.

“We are delighted to be able to support the future of Australian coaching talent with these scholarships for the John Moriarty Foundation. Their work is so important,” he said.

“The more we can provide positive learning, growth and development opportunities for young coaches, the brighter their lives and the future of our game will be.”

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Western Strikers Nominated FSA Club of the Month for Equity Outcomes

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Image Credit: Football SA

Western Strikers SC has been nominated for Club of the Month after a period of deliberate structural investment in its female program that is already producing measurable outcomes, and offering a model for how community clubs can drive participation growth through equity-focused planning rather than passive goodwill.

The nomination recognises a program that has moved beyond surface-level commitment to women’s football and into the kind of structural change that determines whether female players actually stay. Improved lighting across training and match pitches, equitable scheduling, extended training hours and dedicated pitch allocation have addressed the practical barriers that clubs often overlook. It’s conditions that tell players, implicitly or otherwise, whether the game was built for them.

 

Leadership as Infrastructure

Central to Western Strikers’ approach is a leadership structure that takes female football seriously as a technical and administrative priority. Women’s Coordinator Michelle Loprete and Technical Director Georgia Iannella, a former Matilda, provide the program with both organisational direction and the kind of visible role modelling that shapes whether younger players can picture themselves progressing through the game.

The presence of a former international player in a technical leadership role at a community level isn’t incidental. It signals to junior players that the pathway from their Friday night training session to elite football is real and navigable, and it gives the club’s coaching staff access to experience and credibility that most community programs cannot offer.

That pipeline is already functioning. Western Strikers’ Under-13 to Under-16 girls teams all qualified for finals in the Youth Premier League this season. Under-15 goalkeeper Sian Schopfer made her debut in the Women’s State League team which is a direct product of a club environment designed to move players upward.

 

The Friday-night model

One of the more quietly significant initiatives at Western Strikers is the scheduling of Friday night women’s matches, with junior girls training beforehand encouraged to stay and watch senior football. The structure is straightforward but its implications are meaningful. Aspiration in sport is not abstract. It’s built through proximity, through watching players a few years older doing what you want to do, in the same kit, at the same club.

The absence of that experience is one of the more consistent reasons girls disengage from football in their mid-teens. When junior female players cannot see where the game goes after their age group, the logical conclusion is that it goes nowhere. Western Strikers’ scheduling decision addresses that directly, at minimal cost, and whose effects are starting to manifest.

 

The Club Changer framework

The club’s participation in Football South Australia’s Club Changer Program has provided a structured framework for identifying and addressing barriers that might otherwise go unexamined. Pitch allocation, training structures and safety conditions are the kinds of issues that accumulate quietly in club environments; not because of deliberate exclusion but because the default systems were built around male participation and have never been comprehensively reviewed.

The Club Changer Program creates accountability for that review. Western Strikers’ ability to project an additional 146 female players over the next three years is a product of planning rather than optimism.

 

Industry implications

Western Strikers’ model matters beyond its own membership. At a time when women’s football in Australia is navigating the challenge of converting a participation surge into sustainable long-term growth, the question of what community clubs actually do with increased interest is among the most consequential in the sport.

Record crowds at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and sustained national visibility have opened the door. Whether players walk through it and stay depends on whether the club on the other side looks anything like Western Strikers

Melbourne City expand youth program with Hallam Secondary College

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Image credit: Melbourne City FC

The school will join the City Futures Program in its mission to consolidate pathways and community bonds for students.

From pupils to players

Hallam is the latest school in Melbourne’s South-East to join the City Futures Program. Also backing the program’s ambitions are Narre Warren South P-12 College, Gleneagles Secondary College and Timbarra P-9 School.

Partnerships between professional clubs like Melbourne City and local schools help to promote community connection, as well as providing pathways from the classroom to the stadium.

“City Futures is about creating genuine opportunities for young people to stay engaged in their education while feeling connected to something bigger,” said Head of Community, Sunil Melon, via press release.

“By bringing the Club into schools and providing access to our environment, we’re helping students build confidence, explore future pathways and see what’s possible both within football and beyond.”

Gone are the days when young players must choose between football and education. Through the City Futures Program, they can enjoy both worlds and still have the opportunities to develop.

 

What City Futures provides

Hallam sudents will be at the centre of the benefits provided by the connection to Melbourne City.

For example, high-quality coaching sessions delivered twice a week will instill confidence and teamwork skills into young participants. And as Melbourne City coaches are set to deliver the sessions, the students will truly learn from the best in Australia’s footbal landscape.

Furthermore, participants can visit Casey Fields, home to the City Football Academy, where they can experience the ins and outs of how an A-League club operates and trains.

“We’re proud to be part of the City Futures Program,” outlined Acting Principal at Hallam Secondary College, Shelly Haughey.

“Seeing our students come together and commit to their training is setting them up for success both on and off the pitch, and we look forward to building a strong and lasting partnership with Melbourne City FC.”

 

The future of football pathways

This isn’t the first – nor will it be the last – partnership to connect football and education in Australia.

Earlier this year, Queensland-based John Paul College embarked on an exciting journey with Spanish outfit, RCD Espanyol, to provide unique coaching support, player education, and pathway opportunities.

But these partnerships aren’t merely about giving young talents a place in the starting XI.

They are designed to ensure all participants develop into confident young people – whether their future lies on the pitch, in the dugout or in the boardroom.

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