Women’s soccer is really taking off on the Central Coast in the wake of the Matildas frenzy of last year.
Central Coast Football (CCF) CEO Alex Burgin said there had been “extraordinary growth” in registration numbers all over the region in the past 12 months.
“Certainly, the Matildas’ success in the World Cup had an effect, but there is a combination of factors here on the Central Coast,” he said.
“There was the Men’s World Cup and then we had the Mariners men coming into this year off the back of a win in the A-League last season and a women’s team rejoining the A-League for the first time in some years.
“All of this has combined to elevate interest in the game, especially at a junior level.
“Overall female participation in club soccer is up 20 per cent on last year and MiniRoos registration, for girls from Under 5 to Under 12, has risen by 28 per cent.
“Female only teams on the Coast have more than doubled, from 57 to 117, in the past year.”
Burgin said CCF had done much work, specifically on the women’s game, knowing there would be a boom off the back of the World Cup.
“We have implemented a few programs and initiatives this year to help drive growth,” he said.
“We have expanded our girls’ only divisions from Under 5s all the way up to Over 35s.
“Every girl aged five, six or seven receives gear valued at $100 upon registration.
“More than 2,700 kids have so far received a ball, bag, shinpads and water bottle.”
CCF has also developed a Girls Development Program – an eight-week intensive training program for Under 9-Under 12 girls designed to bolster youth development in the region.
The program will run three times throughout the year.
“We had 100 girls for the first session and are expecting 120 for the next one,” Burgin said.
“It’s all about helping that next generation of talent develop through extra training and skill sessions with high level coaches.”
CCF has also introduced the first Over 35s women’s competition for the region.
“The Men’s comp for over 35s has been around for a number of years and we wanted to provide that same space for women wanting to play who might have family restrictions,” he said.
“We are running that comp on Friday nights.”
“We have six teams in the comp, with almost 500 players registered.”
For the 2024 season, all returning and new female referees received free registration, referee shirts, shorts, polo shirt and track pants.
“We are trying to build numbers of female referees,” Burgin said.
“Last year we had nine – this year there are 42; it’s the most we’ve ever had.”
A move to cancel the women’s reserve grade competition attracted some flack after last season, but Burgin said it had been prompted by feedback from a lot of clubs struggling to attract enough women to field both first and second grade teams, prohibiting them from participating.
“We have introduced a Women’s Division 1 in addition to the Premier 1 in place of a reserve grade competition and this has seen an increase in club participation,” he said.
“Last year we had seven clubs registered in the top tier women’s comp – there are now 13.”
In terms of overall growth, Burgin said 2024 has the most players in Central Coast Football history, with 15,690 men and women registered.
The number of teams has risen by 146 to 1,385 and 13,003 fixtures have been scheduled for the 2024 season – an average of 700 games per week.