Football Queensland set to host Australia’s first female-only B Licence Coaching Course

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Football Queensland have announced they will hold Australia’s first ever female-only FFA/AFC B Licence coaching course at the beginning of next year.

The course will be held at Meakin Park and will run across 11 days in January and April, with Matildas Assistant Coach Mel Andreatta, Junior Matildas Head Coach Rae Dower and FQ’s Lead Club Development Ambassador (Coaching) Davide Bertamini facilitating the program.

“Football Queensland is absolutely committed to the women’s game which is why we will deliver the first ever female-only FFA/AFC B Licence course here at Meakin Park, a significant step for the women’s game, especially as we look ahead to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci said.

“We know that women and girls are the future of our game, and Football Queensland is committed to developing pathways and opportunities for women and girls to get involved in football in any capacity, including as players, coaches and referees.”

“As outlined in our Strategic Plan, Football Queensland is committed to increasing the number of coaches in our game through greater support, development and recognition,” FQ President Ben Richardson said.

“The upcoming female-only B Licence course at Meakin Park is a great example of this as we find new ways to provide high quality participation opportunities for women and girls in Queensland.”

Dower explained previous feedback from female coaches indicated there was an appetite for a female-only course, with some coaches claiming they were not as comfortable in an environment where they were the only female involved in a program.

“I think it’s always nice to be the first. For Football Queensland, it’s nice to be able to say that they led this initiative, looking at the big picture and an alternate way to boost the number of female coaches which is linked to our Strategic Plan,” she said.

“It’s also linked to Principle X of the FFA’s XI Principles by embracing opportunities to increase the number of female coaches and to grow the overall talent pool. The investment and development of the women’s game is not just about players, but building capacity in coaches, referees, medical staff and decision-makers too.

“To champion this initiative and to be the first is a proud pioneering moment for the evolution of the women’s game here in Queensland. Special thanks to Gabor, Davide, Rob and Ben for supporting the concept and to Sean Douglas for providing us with flexibility in our delivery.

“The female-only B Licence course provides an opportunity for a cohort of coaches to experience something different and to help them gain further qualifications and enhance their professional development. We don’t know what the specific feedback will be for this course because we’ve never done it before, but the opportunity needs to be provided before people can say whether they like the experience or not.”

The Young Matildas coach believes a flexible approach is key to realising the potential of female coaches, as they look to progress through the ranks.

“We need to create as many opportunities as possible for women to go on the Advanced Coaching pathway.  Providing the opportunity and a supportive environment is the first part, then it’s over to them to show their potential. For our teachers, they’re coaching and teaching every day of their working lives, so it comes naturally to them.

“The next step is to support them, to guide and mentor them and instil confidence in them. As the game and in particular the women’s game continues to professionalise, there will be a larger pool of female coaches who have the qualifications and experience required and can then be afforded the same opportunity as their male counterparts to be recruited into more coaching roles.

“It would be great to get a full course and provide a really positive experience for a historic group of female coaches.”

More information about the course can be found here.

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Active Club Program offers South Australian football clubs a funding boost

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Image Credits: Shutterstock 2327752993

South Australian football clubs can tap into another round of government support, with the Active Club Program offering grants of up to $3,000 to help clubs improve participation and strengthen their local communities. The Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing (ORSR) opened its new round of funding on the 28th of August. Clubs have until midday on Wednesday, 14 October 2026 to apply.

The grassroots benefits

The South Australian Government has allocated $1.448 million to the round. Clubs with fewer than 100 members can receive $1,500. Clubs with 100 or more members can receive $3,000. The program targets grassroots sport, including football. It helps clubs purchase equipment and resources that make participation easier and more affordable.

Football clubs can use the funding for sporting equipment, uniforms and protective gear. They can also fund playing venue maintenance equipment, professional development, medical equipment and training. The program also supports projects that improve inclusion. Clubs can use grants for positive health initiatives and hardship subsidies. These measures can help remove barriers that stop people from playing sport.

That focus creates opportunities for football clubs to support more women and girls. It can also help clubs create more welcoming environments for players of different ages and backgrounds. Water and energy efficiency also form part of the program. Clubs can fund eligible initiatives that reduce water use or improve energy efficiency. That could prove particularly valuable for football clubs managing local playing venues and facilities. The program also allows minor club infrastructure upgrades and technology that directly supports participation or club sustainability.

Who is eligible?

To qualify, a club must operate as a not-for-profit sport or active recreation organisation in South Australia. It must have at least 20 members and have operated for at least 12 months.

ORSR will also consider a club’s participation profile when assessing applications. The assessment looks at female and male junior and senior participation, alongside factors such as the club’s affiliation and when it last received Active Club Program funding.

How to apply

The funding can make a direct difference at grassroots level. In the previous round, 558 South Australian clubs shared more than $1.4 million. The government says the investment helped clubs meet essential costs while supporting participation and inclusion.

For football, that support can stretch beyond the playing field. Stronger clubs create more opportunities for players, coaches and volunteers. They also provide places where people can build connections and stay active. Applications for Round 56 will be screened in November, assessed in December, with clubs notified in January 2027.

To learn more about the South Australian Active Club Program, visit their website.

The Spreadsheet Is Dead: Majestri’s Fix for How Clubs Actually Assess Players

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If you’ve ever sat through a club’s end-of-season review, you’ll know the drill. A coach pulls out a folder of notes, someone half-remembers what a player was like back in Round 3 and a parent quietly wonders what they actually got for their rego fees beyond a team photo. Football club platform Majestri says it has a fix for that, and it’s built directly into its Player Assessment module.

Why clubs bother assessing players in the first place

According to Majestri, clubs run player assessments for one of three reasons – usually more than one at once. Some are chasing genuine development, using the data to lift the level across their high-performance squads. Others are after a fairer way to pick teams, putting every player on the same measurable scale so selection is based on evidence rather than a coach’s gut feel about who “looks the part.” And for clubs operating under a Football Australia or state federation licence, assessments at set intervals often aren’t optional – they’re a compliance requirement, with the paperwork to prove it when asked.

Whatever the motivation, Majestri’s pitch is the same: don’t let that assessment data die in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.

Build your own assessment, your way

There’s no one-size-fits-all template here. The Assessment Designer lets technical directors set their own criteria, sort them into whatever categories their coaching staff already use – think core skills, possession, defending, attacking – and decide what each point on the rating scale actually means. Crucially, every criterion also gets a comment field, because a bare number rarely tells the full story of a player’s development.

The Assessment Module Builder for an NPL Juniors assessment
The Assessment Module Builder, showing an NPL Juniors assessment with a 1-10 rating scale banded from under performing through to excelling and role-specific criteria grouped into core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

Build it once and it’s reusable every time that assessment cycle comes around, so every player and every coach – is working off the same yardstick.

Something for the parents to actually take home

One of the more relatable pain points Majestri is targeting: most families never see much tangible return from a season of fees beyond a team photo. Player Assessment addresses that with report cards – colour-coded against the same scale coaches used, grouped by category with averages calculated automatically, and delivered as a PDF or an interactive web page a parent can read without needing a coaching badge themselves.

A player report card for an under-15 player
A report card for an under-15 player, colour-coded from under performing to excelling, with a score for every criterion and a group average across core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

 

Turning the numbers into something useful

The real value, though, sits in what Majestri calls the Player Analysis Lab. This is where clubs can plot a player against their team-mates or an entire age group across two categories at once, spotting clusters and outliers at a glance. Every score gets read against the group average – so a “7” actually means something in context – and clubs can report at the broad category level or drill into individual fields underneath. The results can be filtered down and exported for selection meetings or grading purposes.

The Player Analysis Lab comparing players in an under-15 and under-16 squad
The Player Analysis Lab comparing seven players across under-15 and under-16 squads, with a scatter plot, a sortable table of scores against the player average, and controls for choosing which categories and fields to report on. Source: Majestri.

The admin side nobody enjoys, made easier

Beyond the flashy analytics, there’s a practical layer built for the volunteers actually running the process:

  • Sweep monitoring – a quick view of which assessments are done and which are still outstanding, organised into defined assessment periods so progress can be tracked against peers.
  • Individual development plans – every player gets a personalised plan, and clubs can group common improvement areas to run cross-team training sessions that lift the whole club rather than just one squad.
  • Access control – coaches and technical staff can only see assessments for the teams they’re responsible for, and completed assessments are only visible to people linked to that player’s registration.
“Hard numbers to draw on when you review coaching staff and curriculum – and something tangible for the players and parents who pay the fees.” – Majestri

 

The bigger picture

Majestri frames all of this as sitting on top of the club’s own data – assessment results live on each player’s profile inside the platform rather than in a spreadsheet that walks out the door when a technical director moves on. For committees, it also means hard numbers to lean on when reviewing coaching staff or curriculum, rather than relying on anecdote.

It’s a fairly clear read on where club administration software is heading: less about digitising paperwork for its own sake, and more about making the data clubs already collect actually work for player development, team selection and compliance  without adding to the workload of the volunteers who run the show.

For more information on Majestri’s Player Assessment module, visit majestri.com.au/player-assessment.

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