Western United Women’s Football Integration Manager Amanda Stella: “This process is just the beginning”

Staff Writer

Western United fielded its first ever women’s team in a curtain-raiser exhibition match against the Tasmanian state team at UTAS Stadium on Tuesday, April 19.

It was another big step in the club’s journey to the A-League Women competition. The club announced last year that it had been granted a license to join in the 2022/23 season, after the Wellington Phoenix expanded the competition to 10 sides in 2021/22.

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 front and centre in the minds of many, women’s football is seeing massive growth across Australia.

But a desire for development requires continued investment. In a Q&A, Soccerscene spoke to Calder United president and Western United Women’s Football Integration Manager Amanda Stella about the journey to be able to field a team at all, backed by a strong connection between two teams.

How was the experience for the girls?

Amanda Stella: It was a good hit out for the girls, where it was a 1-1 game. It was pretty close with end-to-end chances.

Our girls were very spent by its conclusion. They played Bulleen the night before, so they were feeling pretty flat and had to pick themselves up. We had a couple of last minute injuries to a few girls and they couldn’t play, so it put the load back on some of them.

It was difficult, but it was an amazing experience and they were all very grateful they got to go. However it was the worst conditions for football. It was raining, and made for some miserable weather.

How did it help the players’ integration within Western United?

Amanda Stella: That night we stayed and watched the A-League Men’s game at the chairman’s function, and got some acknowledgement from the board and the chairman. Afterwards we went and had pizza with all the staff of Western United and the board that were there, which was great.

Everyone met up for a little bit of a get together later on in the night, and a lot of the men’s A-League team came along as well.

It was a great moment for the girls and a real taste of what it will be like when the club has the A-League Women’s team up and running.

Even for the Western United commercial teams and marketing teams – to meet the girls and spend some time with them – it was very well worth having everyone in the one place.

What have been the aims of the past year?

Amanda Stella: It is about getting Western United on track with having a women’s team, and all the things that go with that. It is a little bit of an extra workload for everybody, but also a good opportunity for the club to feel what it will be like to be a complete A-League club in both men’s and women’s.

There’s lots of positives, and a lot of hard work to come, but they’re a club that is extremely ambitious and are looking for success with their A-League Women team. This development squad will help get that started.

I would be suggesting there is still plenty of positions available to current A-League Women’s players and those from overseas to lift it up, but a lot of players will come from this group which will give them a great opportunity.

How has the connection with Calder United helped?

Amanda Stella: For the girls that are involved from Calder, it gives them an extra skill session every week, which is always a big bonus.

We have had two years of not a lot of football in Victoria, so that is probably number one, and to get the experiences we did in Tasmania. Some exposure on social media, like you guys wanting stories and photos of the girls and interviews with the girls out there, that’s only a positive.

Whether they all become A-League Women players or not, I think they are all grateful for the opportunities they have had and what still may come in the future.

The first team will not look the same as the second year team and the third year team. This process is just the beginning.

Previous ArticleNext Article

The Man Who Built a Women’s Football Program from Nothing is now an Award-Winning Gender Equity Leader

Avatar
Image Credit: Football Victoria

Eight years ago, Spring Hills Football Club did not have a girls’ team. Today it has one of the most recognised women’s programs in Melbourne’s west, a senior NPLW side, and a head coach who has just been named Gender Equity Leader of the Year at the Melton City Council Volunteer Achievement Awards.

Tom Markovski, Spring Hills’ NPLW Head Coach, received the award at a ceremony coinciding with National Volunteer Week, recognised for his community leadership, promotion of gender equality and commitment to advancing the status of women and people of all genders in sport. The recognition comes from outside the football community entirely, awarded by a local council celebrating volunteers across every sector of civic life in one of Melbourne’s fastest-growing regions.

Building from scratch

When Markovski arrived at Spring Hills, women’s football at the club did not exist. His first act was to champion the establishment of the club’s first all-girls team, a process that required persuading a club culture built around men’s football that the investment was worth making.

Women’s football in community clubs has historically struggled to access the same facilities, scheduling priority, coaching resources and institutional support as the men’s game. Clubs have been slow to invest in programs whose return is less immediately visible than a senior men’s premiership, and in a growing outer-suburban community like Melton, where volunteer capacity is finite and demand across every program is high, the case for building something new always has to compete with the urgency of maintaining what already exists.

Markovski made the case anyway, and kept making it across eight years of coaching senior and junior NPL teams while simultaneously building the structural foundations of a women’s program designed to outlast any individual’s involvement. The club’s first all-girls team became multiple junior girls teams. Those junior teams created the pipeline for a senior women’s side. The senior women’s side created visible pathways for younger players to see where the game could take them within their own club.

The outcome is a program that Spring Hills now holds up as central to its identity rather than supplementary to it. The club has become a leader in female participation in Melbourne’s west, and recently made history within the NPLW Victoria structure by fielding junior teams coached entirely by female coaches, a milestone that reflects the depth of the program Markovski helped build.

What the Award Recognises

The Melton City Council’s decision to name Markovski its Gender Equity Leader of the Year places his work in a frame that extends beyond football. Melton is one of the fastest-growing local government areas in Australia, a diverse and rapidly expanding community where the institutions that bring people together, like schools, councils, sporting clubs, carry an outsized responsibility for social cohesion.

Mayor Cr. Lara Carli, speaking at the awards ceremony, reflected on the role volunteers play in communities like Melton’s. “Volunteering creates friendships, strengthens communities and builds a sense of belonging,” she said. “It helps people feel connected, supported and valued, and those things are more important than ever in a growing and diverse community like ours.”

For the girls now playing football at Spring Hills who were not playing anywhere eight years ago, Markovski’s contribution is not abstract. It is the specific and concrete fact of having somewhere to play, someone to coach them, and a pathway that leads somewhere.

Two NPL VIC clubs receive funding boost from State Budget

Avatar
Image credit: Football Victoria

Following the announcement of the 2026 Victoria State Budget, Avondale FC and Hume City FC will both receive major backing for facility upgrades.

 

Valuable support for future projects

Avondale and Hume City now have immensely valuable financial support for infrastructure and facility upgrade projects.

Avondale will see an injection of $500,000 for lighting developments at its home ground, Avenger Park. Meanwhile, Hume City FC, will receive $250,000 to further improve its home ground, Nasiol Stadium, which opened in 2009.

Both clubs expressed their delight at the funding from the State Labor Government, and what the backing may bring to club facilities and overall development going forward.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Victorian Government and Sheena Watt for their support through this $500,000 lighting upgrade investment, which will have a lasting impact on our players, families and the wider Avondale community,” said Avondale Club President, Stephen Strano.

“We have hundreds of players across all age groups utilising these facilities each week, and these improvements will help create an even strong environment for excellence, participation, and community engagement,” outlined Hume City President, Ersan Gülüm.

As a result of these respective investments, both NPL VIC outfits appear set for incredibly opportunities to modernise, develop and strengthen their club infrastructure.

 

Lighting the path to a brighter future

The investments will see features such as lighting upgrades improve facility access for men’s and women’s teams, and LED scoreboards become part of a more modern matchday experiences going forward.

For both clubs, however, lighting upgrades are about more than keeping a pitch open late at night. Improved lighting is a means to a more accessible and supportive future in which both the men’s and women’s teams can utliise local facilities, and matchdays can take place in the excitement of playing ‘under the lights’.

And as Football Victoria CEO, Dan Birrell, highlighted, the improvements made to club facilities are benchmarks for the wider Victorian football community.

“Both Avondale and Hume City are pillars in the Victorian football landscape,” Birrell stated via press release.

“Professional level facilities like Avenger Park and Nasiol Stadium are critical for the development of Victorian football and Football Victoria welcomes the news that they will continue to improve thanks to the support of the Victorian State Government.”

 

More must follow

While the investments from the State Government come as welcome updates for these two clubs, there is still plenty more to be done to evenly develop facilities and infrastructure across Victoria’s football landscape.

Indeed, Avondale FC and Hume City FC are two fantastic community clubs who will no doubt put the funding towards impactful improvements.

But there are plenty more who still need external backing to build infrastructure not just for now, but for future seasons to come.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend