SharkNinja named partner of new women’s Ninja A League

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Image credit: IOIO IMAGES / Shutterstock.com

SharkNinja has been confirmed as the new multi-season naming rights partner for the Women’s A league, which will be called the Ninja A-league.

SharkNinja is a tech and design company that works on a global scale, they have produced famous household products including the Ninja blenders and Shark cordless vacuum ranges.

It will also, in conjunction with the Ninja A-league, become a major new partner of the Isuzu UTE A-League.

The A-league commissioner Nick Garcia has welcomed the added investment the partnership will have.

“SharkNinja joins the A-Leagues with aligned ambitions; to grow women’s football in Australia and New Zealand, increase the opportunities and pathways for players, and help make the game more visible and accessible for our fans. We can’t wait to see where we take the Ninja A-League Women,” Nick explained in an A-league media release.

One of the future initiatives the partnership has confirmed is a new junior pass for under 16s that will give free entry for the first few rounds of the Ninja A-league to increase stadium-going fans and the family-friendly environment of the games.

This strategy has worked in the A-league before and with the huge numbers of young girls going to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Women’s A-league. This could be a necessary boost to increase the passionate youthful support that’s been crucial to the growth of Australian female football.

Furthermore, the agreement outlines media developments that will inject interest in the league including the continuation of the Dub Zone newspaper that details the weekly action of the league and in collaboration with the APL and Network Ten plan to increase the number of free-to-air games on 10 Bold for the 2024-25 season.

The number of games will increase from one to ten in a move to hopefully increase the Ninja A-league’s viewership online.

Judy Darling, the VP Commercial of SharkNinja advocates for the company’s excitement at the new partnership.

“Our mission is to positively impact people’s lives every day in every home around the world. This is exactly what our incredible Australian and Kiwi female footballers do – having become such powerful role models for the young and old alike,” Judy explained in an A-league statement.

The A-league’s need for investment means this is a welcomed announcement and could produce more cash flow for the A-league to continue developing Australian football both at the top level and down through the youth leagues.

Only time will tell if this partnership can deliver on its promises, for stakeholders and fans, however, this can be viewed as a step in the right direction.

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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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.

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

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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.

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