For everyone Kick it to me!
The Matildas might not have won last year’s World Cup, but their brand of football might yet win the battle. Although AFL gets most of the money and affection, football – it was the Americans who dubbed it ‘soccer’ – has the numbers. More Australians play soccer than any other sport, and more girls and women are getting interested than ever before.
Carlo Carli, president of the Brunswick Zebras Football Club, says his North Melbourne club is struggling to keep up with a surge in interest from girls and young women. “We are a club of about 650 players, and we’ve already gone over that number in terms of expressions of interest from girls for next year,” Carlo says.
While the game’s popularity has been on the rise for years, the 2023 Women’s World Cup sparked a new boom. More and more school students are seeing the game – and recognising its potential as a career option.
Naomi Chinnama is one such student. Having won a place at the Maribyrnong Sports Academy (MSA) as a teen, the 20-year-old has gone on to play for the Young Matildas internationally and for this year’s A-League premiers, Melbourne City FC. She says she is delighted that her sport is finally getting the recognition at home that it deserves.
“It has been so inspiring to see so many people interested in the sport that I’ve loved for so long,” Naomi says. “I feel like it was coming but the World Cup has sped it up and helped us to get a bit closer to our goals regarding equality for men and women in football.”
Adrian Mazzarella, head of football at MSA, says there is no doubting the game’s popularity with young Australians. “Our football program is now the biggest sports program in our academy, and it probably has been for about five or six years now,” Adrian says. “There’s 108 student athletes in the program, which makes up close to one-fifth of all the kids here.”
The Matildas’ success means that, for the first time, girls have female football icons to idolise. Naomi says it’s amazing to see how things have changed since she first put on her boots aged seven. “I had a few female icons, but it was mainly male players because female football just wasn’t as big as it’s getting now.”
Carlo says the number of girls and women playing for the Zebras has, until recently, remained steady at around 25% to 30% – even while overall numbers spike. He expects that split to be around 50/50 within the next ten years.
“Our football program is now the biggest sports program in our place at the Maribyrnong Sports Academy.”
Adrian Mazzarella
Adrian says MSA is already close to achieving parity. “This year, coming into Year 7, for the first time, we’re pretty close to 50/50. Not long ago it would have been 90% boys, 10% girls.”
There’s no denying the Matildas’ effect on those figures. The broadcast of the 2023 Women’s World Cup grand final vastly outrated recent AFL grand finals, signalling a mainstream acceptance for the sport that echoes its long-running popularity at a grassroots level. More than that, it demonstrated that large audiences are keen to watch women play.
Carlo says audiences are coming to realise that women’s football is its own unique sport, rather than simply a gentler version of the men’s game. “Women’s football is a different game to watch than men’s football, and I think people have worked out that it’s really attractive, because it’s a bit more authentic.”
By “authentic”, Carlo means there tends to be less of the overblown theatrics too often used to win penalties in the men’s game. There’s also more of a focus on skills and technique over brute force, he says, which makes it appealing to female students – and their parents.
“The thing about football that’s different to Aussie Rules is your physique doesn’t matter. You don’t need to be physically strong to be a footballer. So, it does provide a bit more of a level playing field. And parents are more comfortable taking their young children to a sport like football where there’s less risk of physical harm or injury.”
“I know a lot of people who weren’t interested in women’s football before and now they are.”
Naomi Chinnama
That said, after a brief period of trying out other sports, it was the physicality of the game that brought Naomi back to soccer. “I did stop for a little bit and tried tennis, gymnastics, athletics, a bunch of other things. But I just really loved making tackles.”
Adrian says the strong reliance on teamwork rather than a few star players is another attraction for female students. Also, it’s culturally diverse, and there are good national and international career opportunities. “It’s the most popular team sport in the world. But the female game has only recently become professional worldwide. So, there’s lots more opportunity for females to break into the professional league compared to the males.”
The main obstacle to a career in women’s football is cost. Club and training fees can be prohibitively expensive compared to AFL, which tends to receive far more government funding. MSA is the only public school in the country with a dedicated football program. “The MSA scholarship was really helpful,” Naomi says. “It makes football accessible for everyone.”
Carlo hopes change might be in the air. “The World Cup has been incredibly important, because it’s meant that governments are spending money on female facilities. Maybe they should have done it 30 years ago, but we’ve finally got them.”
While there’s still work to do, Naomi is enjoying the thrill of playing to ever-expanding crowds – friendly or otherwise. “You really feel the buzz from the crowd when you play. I know a lot of people who weren’t interested in women’s football before and now they are. And I’ve been hearing how kids are starting see it as just ‘football’ instead of ‘women’s football’. That’s been really cool to see.”
