Women’s soccer teams need more support to sustain growth in the sport
Matildas momentum is at an all-time high after last year's Women's World Cup, with the team's success inspiring more than 1,000 South Australian women and girls to sign up to play soccer for the first time. But while local clubs welcome the boost, they say more needs to be done to sustain growth in the sport.
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00:00It's game night for the Adelaide Jaguars, one of several South Australian soccer clubs
00:12experiencing the Matildas effect.
00:15When the Matildas came on, I just started playing.
00:21All the girls are playing because they like soccer.
00:25Not just girls, it's women too.
00:28I thought, am I too old for this or not?
00:30And I thought, nah, I'm going to give it a go.
00:34About 120 new players joined the Jags this year, with the Matildas World Cup success
00:40inspiring many.
00:44The massive impact that they've had in the last 12 months over the World Cup certainly
00:47probably brought another, I would say, 100 people in, so probably another 30 per cent
00:52to the club.
00:53It's a phenomenon across the state.
00:5665 new teams from 23 to 24, which is a fantastic outcome off the back of the World Cup.
01:03One, two, three, Jags!
01:05But some clubs, like the Jags, say they can't keep up with skyrocketing demand.
01:11We've turned away about 100 players from Adelaide Jaguars because we are at capacity.
01:16Bronnie Brooks says her club struggles to recruit coaches, and despite being the biggest
01:21female-only soccer club in SA, it doesn't have its own club room.
01:26All of those basic club needs we just don't have at this facility.
01:33During the Women's World Cup last year, the South Australian Government and Football SA
01:39announced they would spend $18 million over three years on women's sport.
01:45$10 million was quarantined for soccer.
01:48The Government received 62 applications in the first round of the grant program,
01:53but only 13 came from soccer clubs or other organisations seeking to improve women's soccer facilities.
02:01The Jags say they weren't eligible to apply for an infrastructure grant,
02:06as the club doesn't have landowner consent.
02:09They are eligible to apply, but they do have an issue around a permanent home.
02:15And I've asked my office and the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing to work with them.
02:21The Jags say their search for a permanent home continues.
02:26We're hopeful that in the next 12 months, perhaps, whatever that looks like,
02:30we will latch onto a piece of space that we can create our own home for.
02:34A hope shared by hundreds of inspired soccer players.