JFA creates new coaching licenses for female coaches

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The Japan Football Association (JFA) has announced plans to create an Associate-Pro (A-Pro) Licence Coaching Course to produce more female coaches.

Japan is set to introduce the WE League, a new women’s football league in 2021 – the A-Pro license and course has been created to see women become coaches at WE League clubs.

The JFA said that the league will be the foundation for growth of women’s football in Japan.

“This project was launched with the intention to reignite the popularity of women’s football in Japan ahead of the kick-off of the WE League. Football’s player population has currently hit the ceiling in Japan, but women’s football still has great potential for growth,” Vice Technical Director of the JFA Technical Committee, Ono Takeshi said.

“With the growth of our football family, more families will talk about football and attend more football matches, and that is the future we are envisioning. By making football part of our culture, we strongly believe that we can heighten the overall level of football in Japan.”

The course will involve both lectures and practical components. International opportunities such as training courses and language classes will also be held, with the hope that participants will be able to work overseas after the completion of the course.

“The ‘Nadeshiko Vision’ is a principle that is set to heighten the overall level of women’s football in Japan. In 2015, part of the article was amended from ‘everyone involved in women’s football’ to ‘everyone involved in Japanese football’,” Chair of JFA Women’s Committee, Imai Junko said.

“The development of women’s football cannot be accomplished without the support of the entire Japanese football community, and the development of women’s football will certainly contribute to raise the overall level of football in Japan.

“The participation of female coaches must be promoted at licensing programmes of all levels, and the support from technical committees and women’s committees from each prefectural FA is essential. We will provide our utmost efforts to achieve optimal and sustainable results (through the kick-off of the WE League and the A-Pro licence project).”

The WE League will become the top level of women’s football in Japan from autumn 2021. The new competition takes the place of the current Nadeshiko League and will feature between six to 10 teams.

The league’s name comes from the acronym for ‘women’s empowerment’ and is Japan’s first professional women’s football league.

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Eastern Suburbs Football Association Announces First All-Female Referee Course and Expanded Women’s Competition

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Image Credit: Football NSW

The Eastern Suburbs Football Association has opened its 2026 season with three structural investments that reflect the growing ambition of community football associations to address participation, representation and development gaps simultaneously, beginning with the delivery of its first all-female Football Match Official Course.

The course, held at Matraville Sports High School and led by female liaison committee member Michelle Hilton and 2025 Referee of the Year Ariella Richards, brought 25 new female referees into the association ahead of Round 1. The initiative targets one of the most persistent imbalances in community sport, with women remaining significantly underrepresented in officiating roles at every level of the game, by creating a dedicated entry point separate from the mixed course environment that many women find unwelcoming.

The Women’s Premier League has also expanded, now featuring eleven teams and introducing a WPL1 and WPL2 structure following the first ten rounds of the season. The tiered format creates more competition opportunities for clubs across the region while providing a clearer development pathway for teams at different stages of growth. Returning clubs Randwick City, Glebe Wanderers, Easts FC and Sydney University join established sides in what the association describes as one of its most competitive women’s seasons. ESFA clubs have continued to perform strongly in state-wide competitions including the Football NSW Sapphire Cup, State Cup and Champion of Champions.

Building the next generation

The season opened with an inaugural Development League Gala Day for Under-9 to Under-12 boys and girls, bringing eight clubs together in a structured development environment ahead of Round 1. Sydney FC A-League Women’s players attended the event and engaged directly with young participants, a deliberate effort to connect grassroots players with visible examples of where the pathway leads.

“We are committed to creating more opportunities for clubs, players, coaches and referees to thrive, with a strong focus on participation opportunities to suit participants of all abilities and aspirations,” said ESFA CEO John Boulous.

The three initiatives, a new referee entry point for women, an expanded women’s competition structure, and a development-focused junior gala day with elite role models present, together reflect an association responding to the participation pressures the AFC Women’s Asian Cup has brought into sharp relief across Australian football.

More Than One in Five Football Australia Staff to Lose Jobs Amid Growing Financial Losses

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Image Credit: ESPN

Australian football finds itself in a curious position.

From the outside, the game appears to be riding a wave of momentum. Attendances, visibility and public interest have all experienced significant uplift in recent years, while major international tournaments and growing discussion around football’s future continue to place the sport firmly within the national conversation.

Yet behind that momentum, Football Australia is now confronting a far more challenging internal reality.

 

A compounding deficit

Chief Executive Martin Kugeler has reportedly indicated the governing body’s projected financial losses for 2025 are expected to exceed the organisation’s reported $8.5 million deficit from the previous year. Accompanying the financial outlook are substantial organisational changes, with reporting from Tracey Holmes indicating more than one in five Football Australia employees are expected to lose their positions through restructuring measures.

The figures represent more than a difficult balance sheet. They point toward a significant period of recalibration inside the organisation responsible for overseeing the sport nationally.

 

Losing the wisdom of existing staff members

For governing bodies, restructures are often framed as strategic necessities for future sustainability. However, workforce changes on this scale also raise broader questions around the challenges of such a transition.

People are often the carriers of knowledge, relationships and long-term strategic understanding. When organisations undergo significant structural change, the effects can extend beyond immediate financial outcomes.

 

Contradicting timing

The timing is what makes the developments particularly notable.

Football in Australia has spent recent years discussing expansion, growth and long-term opportunity. The conversation surrounding the game has increasingly centred on future potential. Often headlining stronger pathways, larger audiences, infrastructure development and greater visibility.

Against that backdrop, news of deep financial losses and substantial staffing reductions creates a different conversation: one focused not on where the game wants to go, but on what may be required to sustain that journey. Therefore, this announcement points toward stagnancy, rather than growth.

Further detail surrounding Football Australia’s strategy and long-term direction will likely emerge over coming months. For now, the developments serve as a reminder that growth stories are rarely straightforward.

Often, the periods that appear strongest from the outside can also be the moments organisations face their most significant internal tests.

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