Football NSW announces Girls’ Youth and Senior Women’s Competition updates
Following an in-depth Player Development Review throughout the 2024 season, Football NSW is embarking upon a new era across its Girls’ Youth Leagues and Senior Women’s competitions (NPL Women’s and League One Women’s).
As part of the changes being implemented, the Football NSW Institute program will cease operations at the end of the 2024 season. Opening its doors in 2013, the Institute has been a hugely successful producer of young female talent, playing a significant role in the early development of numerous Matildas, including the likes of Ellie Carpenter, Courtney Nevin and Holly McNamara.
The Institute’s closure heralds a positive shift in the girls’ and women’s player development pathway, with four A-League Clubs (Central Coast Mariners FC, Macarthur FC, Newcastle Jets FC and Western Sydney Wanderers FC) set to participate in the 2025/2026 Football NSW Girls’ Youth Leagues and Senior Women’s Competitions.
With Clubs seen as the primary deliverers of player development, the implementation of a Club Standards and Benchmarking Framework, alongside Football NSW mechanisms of support, will facilitate the operation of multiple girls’ and women’s high-performance programs in NSW.
The growing and evolving female football environment has resulted in the Institute program running its natural course, allowing Football NSW to concentrate on ensuring Club accountability, competition regulation and capability building across all participant groups (e.g. coaches, referees, technical directors).
As a means of further supporting talented youth, Football NSW will launch the ‘Future Sapphires’ program in 2025. Designed to be a supplementary program for players across the Under 15, Under 16 & Under 18 age grades, the 40-week program will sit atop the Football NSW led talented player pathway, underpinned by Club programs, the Talent Support Program (TSP) and the Talent Development Scheme (TDS) matches in conjunction with Football Australia.
The six primary changes resulting from the Player Development Review are summarised below and detailed, with specific rationale, in the Competition and Technical Changes for the 2025-26 (Girls and Women) document.
- Maintain the current numbers within Girls’ / Women’s Competitions being two tiers of 14 Clubs.
- Expand the Girls’ Youth League Two to include Under 18s, aligning the leagues
- Women’s Reserve Grade & U20s to become Under 23s (plus 4 overage players per match card team sheet)
- Decoupling of Girls’ Youth League & Women’s Senior Competitions
- Implementation of Club Standards across Girls’ Youth Leagues (two-year licence period)
- Dissolution of the Football NSW Institute program & introduction of the ‘Future Sapphires’ programs.
View 2025-26 Competition and Technical Changes (Girls and Women)
Future Sapphires Program Information
Football NSW is confident that the player development changes will function to provide a higher standard of development for player, coach and club across the board in NSW.
