Female football set to grow and develop further at the Southern Districts FA for 2023
In the wake of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is due to kick-off in Australia on July 20 this year, the Southern Districts Soccer Football Association (SDSFA) has confirmed it’s highly successful long-running initiative to encourage female participation in the game will continue.
The SDSFA is committed to growing the Women’s game and has been doing so for a number of years.
The Association will be offering rebates to clubs that field girls-only teams in the U6, U7 and U8 competitions. This rebate will provide financial assistance towards running costs such as registration fees and uniforms, making it easier for clubs to commit to developing young female players, as well as allowing clubs to pass on registration savings directly to paying parents.
This commitment from SDSFA is not something new, however; they have been offering this incentive for a number of years and, as a result, attracting fantastic numbers of junior female players. Player retention has also been excellent, with many girls continuing to play the game in their teenage years and beyond.
SDSFA Competition’s Coordinator Mathew Vukasin said that the program’s success meant it was a no-brainer to offer it again in 2023.
“As a result of this initiative, we now have three divisions of under-10 and under-12s girls divisions, whereas previously we only had one,” he said.
“This has shown us that retention of players that we have captured through the rebate program has been really good, and we’re seeing the benefits of that in the older age groups.”
The SDSFA is confident that the ongoing initiative will help continue to drive growth in the Women’s game and further promote its development both within the Association and throughout Australia.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup fast approaching, this is an exciting time for female footballers everywhere.
Another great female-focused initiative from the Association is the Catherine Cannuli Cup – a competition the Association runs for local public schools as well as paying its respects to one of the area’s most decorated female football stars.
Schools are invited to enter girls-only teams to compete against one another, with any of the participants in the cup eventually looking for clubs within the SDSFA to join.
Whilst the Association has had a deliberate focus on the growth of female football, it also has some fantastic options for boys of all ages and abilities.
