Girls United Development Program a success by growing Queensland football

Matthew Badrov14/10/2021 5:55 am13/10/2021

Football Queensland’s recently implemented Girls United Development Program has proven successful across the state, in the development of young aspiring female coaches.

The Girls United Program has ensured that more than 50 young women from across Queensland are now qualified to coach MiniRoos teams or referee junior matches.

The free Development Programs were held during the September school holidays in Metro South, Metro North, Sunshine Coast and North zones.

FQ Women and Girls Participation Manager Kate Lawson was pleased at the level of interest and engagement from girls throughout the state.

“The Girls United Development Program was a resounding success with 55 girls completing the Level 4 referees’ course and/or the MiniRoos coaching course,” Lawson said.

“For many of the participants, this was their first time they have received any sort of qualification in the referee and coaching space.

“The engagement from the girls was absolutely fantastic, with a number of them showing plenty of promise for the future.

“I’d like to thank the course deliverers and our hosts at Tarragindi Tigers, The Gap FC, Caloundra FC, Nambour Yandina United and FQ North in Townsville.

“Football Queensland will continue to work with clubs from around the state to roll out more Girls United programs in the coming months.”

FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci added the Girls United Development Program was helping to grow the game in Queensland.

“The Girls United Development Program is just one of the ways Football Queensland is helping to develop female talent across our game,” Cavallucci said.

“Over the September holidays we ran a series of targeted programs to encourage women and girls’ participation, including social football and sessions designed for older women and multicultural communities.

“Women and girls are the future of football and increasing the number female coaches and referees is a strategic priority as the number of female participants continues to grow.

“We expect many of these young women will continue along the coach or referee pathway and take on positions at clubs around the state.”

Previous ArticleMelbourne Victory Managing Director Caroline Carnegie on the club’s rebuildNext ArticleMelbourne Victory extends partnership with CoachNick Business Coaching

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

Declan Chan15/04/2026 6:15 am14/04/2026

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.