Inaugural Women’s Premier League season announced with six Illawarra football clubs
Football South Coast has announced a Women’s Premier League will be commencing for the 2023 season. Hear from the organisers and see the teams involved in the revolutionary new competition.
Illawarra Star
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FOOTBALL South Coast will officially launch an inaugural Women’s Premier League for the 2023 season.
The project has been in the works for a number of years now, with the league finally getting the green light from the Women’s Football Council within Football South Coast.
There will be six clubs participating in the inaugural season, with each club having teams across a first grade, second grade, and a youth grade.
The six clubs are: Albion Park White Eagles, Bulli FC, Shellharbour Juniors, Thirroul FC, University FC and Woonona FC.
Football South Coast’s CEO, Ann-Marie Balliana, is excited by the big step being made for local women’s football.
“We know our local competitions have historically been some of the strongest in the state,” Balliana said.
“We frequently have winning clubs in the Champion of Champions, and players moving on to higher levels from our juniors.
“The clubs involved have done a great job promoting women’s football, so now is a great time to implement this Premier League structure.”
Ann-Marie Balliana emphasised the importance of having a solid pathways program within Football South Coast for juniors to progress to a senior level.
Junior and senior teams have traditionally been separate entities within Football South Coast, but with the implementation of the Premier League structure, a clearer pathway has been established for juniors to progress to all-age football.
“It’s a big incentive to have somewhere to progress to,” Balliana said.
“Players can now get the development they need before progressing to all-age leagues.”
The response has been terrific so far to the news of the new league, with Balliana seeing the rebranding as a big incentive to stay playing within the south coast.
“I’ve talked to a lot of the players and they’ve really embraced the concept,” Balliana said.
“They feel more empowered playing under a ‘Premier League’ rebrand, like we have for the men.
“I feel like it encourages them to go out and promote football to younger ages.”
The men’s Illawarra Premier League currently has 12 teams, with the second division, the District League, having another 12 trying to work their way up to the Premier League.
While the women’s Premier League is starting off with just six teams, Football South Coast is “confident that the league will grow in the coming years”.
“We wanted to start off strong with a viable number of clubs,” Balliana said.
“These clubs have a proven record of good pathways and player numbers.
“We’re happy with where we’re starting and we hope to improve numbers each year.”
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup also on the horizon for Australia, the inaugural season couldn’t be any more well timed.
“It’s purely a coincidence, but a good one at that,” Balliana said.
“Hopefully we get a fresh injection of players after the World Cup.”
The season will start on April 23, to be preceded by the Julie Porter Cup, with further details to be announced on this.
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