Football Queensland and TAFE Queensland to deliver schools program

Avatar
TAFE Queensland
Image credit: TAFE Queensland

Football Queensland has announced a football-centred TAFE at schools program, in partnership with TAFE Queensland.

TAFE Queensland is a leading provider of high-quality education and training in various vocational courses enabling students’ careers to further grow the industries and the communities they serve.

The course, which is a part of the curriculum of TAFE Queensland’s Academy of Sport, is intended to give aspiring football players the essential skills they need to succeed in pursuing coaching opportunities both inside and outside of the football arena. The initial intake for the program began early last month, in time for Term 1 of 2023.

Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said via a statement:

“The TAFE at Schools program is just one of the ways Football Queensland is implementing our commitment to strengthening pathways for improved player outcomes and developing higher standards for improved quality on and off the field,” he said.

“This program will provide participants with a professional pathway into football coaching, development and administration within community-based sports clubs and organisations across the Australian sporting industry.

“Students will have the unique opportunity to learn and develop at the home of football in Queensland, while Football Queensland will also provide access to football-specific foundation coaching training as part of the TAFE at Schools program.”

TAFE Queensland General Manager Brent Kinnane highlighted the importance of having a football-specific qualification for professionalising the game, in leading up to both the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.

“The agreement with Football Queensland allows our students to work with professional football coaches while completing a coaching qualification,” he added via press release.

“Introducing a football-focused qualification that allows our students to gain the specific skills they need to meet the industry demands is a game changer at this important time in the history of our region.

“This will allow the students to enter and work in professional football, ensuring that football in Queensland can attract the highest quality players and support staff as we go for gold later this year and in the coming decade.”

Selected students will study at Football Queensland’s headquarters in Meakin Park and the South Bank campus of TAFE Queensland, with the first intake of students currently enrolled in the program.

For more information about the TAFE at Schools program and TAFE Queensland visit tafeqld.edu.au.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

Avatar
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

Avatar
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.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend