Football NSW Institute’s Jada Whyman claims top award

Football NSW Institute star Jada Whyman was named the inaugural recipient of the rebel Role Model Award when the rebel Female Football Week National Award Winners were announced at a breakfast function held at Luminare in Melbourne this morning.

The rebel Role Model Award is an Award that recognises excellence both on and off the pitch.

The selected player’s influence on the game extends beyond her professional playing capacities, with a focus on community. This player embodies what it takes to be a professional footballer; someone who is not only dedicated on the pitch, but also supports and encourages growth of the game at all levels within the community. The winner is selected based on good sportsmanship and attitude, must have played for a Westfield W-League Club during the 2017/18 season and must be under 21 at the start of the season.

Jada, an 18-year-old goalkeeper for the Western Sydney Wanderers also, was a worthy recipient of the rebel Role Model award. Having not only played in 11 of her teams 14 matches in the Westfield W-League 2017/18season, she was also a member of the Westfield Young Matildas that represented Australia at the 2017 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in Nanjing, China. Off the field Jada has been a tireless ambassador for the Western Sydney Wanderers FC conducting over thirty community and media appearances this season alone. In addition to being the face of the club’s marketing campaign, Jada is a role model and mentor for indigenous footballers in her local area and around the country.

Speaking shortly after giving her address, Erica Berchtold was thrilled to be a part of rebel Female Football Week and congratulated Jada Whyman for claiming the rebel Role Model Award.

“Rebel is proud to be working with the FFA in launching the new rebel Role Model Award which forms part of rebel’s commitment to supporting up-and-coming talent as part of our ‘Rebel Women’ program,” said Berchtold

“I am pleased to congratulate Jada on winning the rebel Role Model Award. She has shown considerable promise in her career both on and off the field and has proven to be a deserving winner. We look to seeing more great things from her in the future,” concluded Berchtold

In addition to the rebel Role Model, all other rebel Female Football Week National Awards were also announced this morning.

In the Member Federation Category, the Female Player of the Year was Liana Cook from Women’s U-19 NTC team within Football West, the Female Coach of the Year Emma Zaymund from the Casuarina Football Club within Football Federation Northern Territory, the Female Administrator of the Year was Linda Cerone from the Nepean Football Association within Football NSW, the Female Referee of the Year was Georgia Ghirardello from Capital Football and the Male Champion of the Year Leonard Allen from Garden Suburb FC within Northern NSW Football.

In the Hyundai A-League/Westfield W-League Category the Female Coach of the Year was Kat Smith from Melbourne Victory, the Female Administrator of the Year Lucy Kennedy from Melbourne City FC, the Female Fan of the Year was Lucy Topp from Canberra United, and The Male Champion of the Year was Wally Van Gool from the Western Sydney Wanderers FC.

The objective of the rebel Female Football Week this year is to promote discussion around gender equality and to amplify new and existing female specific programs to ensure that barriers for girls and women to get involved in football are removed.

All levels of the game will be involved in promoting what has become an annual nationwide initiative. Member Federations, associations and clubs will be activating collaboratively with Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League Clubs to deliver a variety of grassroots initiatives and match day activations.

Activities and events to be held throughout rebel Female Football Week will include activations at Hyundai A-League Round 22 matches, Women in Leadership workshops, Women and Girls mentor programs, coaching and refereeing courses, ALDI Miniroos for Girls Kick-off programs, plus a host of ‘meet and greet’ signing opportunities with Westfield W-League players.

For more information about rebel Female Football Week activities and promotions taking place around the please click here.

rebel Female Football Week National Award Winners

Member Federation Category:

Hyundai A-League/Westfield W-League Category

Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season – rebel Female Football Week (Round 22 & 23) Fixtures