Football Coaches Australia announces partnership with Football NSW

Avatar
FCA College

Football Coaches Australia is pleased to announce that Football NSW has joined as a partner to support the professional development of their Metropolitan and Regional Association Head Technical Directors and Coach Educators.

In partnership with FCA, Football NSW will work with Association Head Technical Directors, Coach Education personnel and Course Instructors to subsidise their participation in and completion of the FCA XV Essential Skills Full Program.

FCA CEO Glenn Warry stated: “FCA welcomes the support of Football NSW in recognising the importance of the essential ‘soft skills’ for their leading state coach educators. The global pandemic has taught us to be more innovative and supportive for our coaches than ever before. Coaches are leaders, mentors and role models to male and female youth footballers and adults within their football communities and the Essential Skills program provides highly relevant PD to support and enhance their expertise within those roles.”Football Coaches Australia Logo

“FCA, in partnership with XVenture, has taken innovation to heights never seen before in order to make professional development accessible to Australian football coaches. These programs allow FCA and Football NSW to continue to develop ‘community and connection’ throughout the NSW football coach cohorts.

“Given the impact of COVID -19 on the coaching world in each State, FCA looks forward to the opportunity to work with other State Member Federations to provide similar support for their respective Football Association Technical Directors and Coach Education leaders.”

Peter Hugg Football NSW Head of Football added: “We have long supported the mantra of ‘better coaches, better football’ and have ourselves invested in many programs aimed at improving the professional development of coaches and technical directors, across both our NPL clubs and Associations.

“Our support to Associations and their key coaching staff, as well as our own Technical Unit staff and our Course Instructors, in subsidising this program is an extension of this philosophy. It is hoped that in time, the take up of this wonderful program, the skills developed and the benefits it offers, will filter down across the broader landscape to the benefit of the whole football community.Football NSW logo

“We recently met with Association Technical Directors and Coach Educators and already there is much excitement and interest in the rollout of this program.”

The program was created by XVenture Founder and CEO, Prof. Mike Conway, who is the emotional agility and mind coach for elite athletes and teams (including Olympians, the Socceroos and many A-League teams) and global corporations & organisations.

This series of modules will be delivered completely online, in a revolutionary virtual world environment aiming to develop the ‘essential skills’ of coaching across 5 modules –

  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Leadership
  • Resilience
  • Culture
  • Communication Skills

A new way of learning for our new World:

  • State-of-the-art online learning platform
  • 30 CPD points for each individual module from Football Australia
  • Recognition for prior learning from a major Australian University
  • Each module is approximately twelve hours of self-paced study
  • Fully integrated multi-media style materials in the form of videos, articles, activities, podcasts and assessments with a football theme
  • Multiple-choice test to demonstrate understanding of the materials
  • Real cases and examples from football coaching – from grassroots to elite
  • Receipt of certification on completion of modules

Phil Moss, President of FCA, will welcome enrolled coaches as they make their way through the virtual world of the FCA XV College foyer. Whilst XVenture Founder, Professor Mike Conway will introduce the Essential Skills Program.

REGISTRATION IS NOW AVAILABLE for Module 1: Emotional Intelligence & Module 2: Leadership or for ALL modules at the special launch price.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

Avatar
Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

Football NSW Targets Female Coaching Gap with Twin Programs

Avatar
Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced two new initiatives targeting the development of female coaches and coach education tutors, backed by federal and state government funding, as the governing body moves to address the longstanding structural absence of women across all levels of coaching in the sport.

The Future Female Coaches Mentoring Program, funded through the NSW Office of Sport’s Empower Her program, will select six female coaches holding a minimum AFC B Diploma for a structured mentoring program beginning mid-year. Participants will be paired with experienced mentors and receive three in-person visits including real-time observation and feedback, alongside regular online development sessions throughout the season.

Separately, Football NSW has opened expressions of interest for its 2026/27 Female Coach Education Tutor (CET) Program, supported by the Australian Federal Government’s Play Our Way investment, targeting C Diploma holders who want to move into coach education delivery.

Together, the programs address two distinct but connected gaps in the women’s football coaching pipeline- the progression from active coach to elite-level practitioner, and the transition from practitioner to the tutors who shape how coaching is taught.

The Pipeline Problem

The structural underrepresentation of women in football coaching isn’t a new observation. It is a documented and persistent feature of the game at every level, from community clubs to national team environments. Female coaches remain a minority in pathway competitions, and female coach education tutors are even more so.

One current tutor in the program described the environment she encountered when she came through the system. “My experience coming through as a coach, there was no females on the courses as participants and there was no females running the courses either,” she said. “That kind of inspires me to be someone that can hopefully make other females feel comfortable and confident to want to become coaches.”

“It is really important to have female role models because it shows that there is an opportunity or pathway for females,” said one program participant. “Traditionally it has been a male-dominated area and to know that yes, you can do it as a passion or a side thing, or you can actually make a career of it if you want.”

Removing barriers at the point of entry

The mentoring program’s design reflects an understanding that formal accreditation alone is insufficient to retain and develop female coaches in high-performance environments. Access to experienced mentors, observation in live coaching contexts and ongoing reflective practice address the informal development gaps that credentials cannot fill.

“Learning happens through coaching in real environments, and we recognise our role in providing both stretch and support to high-potential coaches,” said Edward Ferguson, Football NSW Head of Football Development. “This program offers tailored mentoring that complements formal coach education and enhances effectiveness in practice.”

Hayley Todd, Football NSW Head of Womens and Schools Football, framed the initiative in terms of long-term system building rather than individual development. “Creating sustainable pathways for female coaches is a key priority,” she said. “This program supports their development while also providing valuable insight into what is required to progress from state competitions into national and international environments.”

The barriers the programs are designed to remove are clear. The cost of accreditation, lack of access to mentoring networks, the absence of welcoming environments in coaching courses and the scarcity of female role models at senior levels all compound one another in ways that make progression difficult regardless of ability or commitment.

“You want to try and remove as many barriers as possible,” said one tutor involved in the program. “If you can start to remove those barriers, you actually get to engage with the females more consistently and build their confidence and competence in that space.”

A system investing in itself

The timing of both announcements sits within a broader national moment for women’s football. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup, currently underway in Australia, has delivered record crowds and sustained visibility for the female game at the elite level. The programs announced this week operate at the other end of the pipeline – building the coaching infrastructure that will determine whether the players inspired by that visibility have qualified, experienced and representative coaches to develop them.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend