Its a shambles, there are only 7 teams, girls are leaving to study and work, no one gets paid and no one wants to be in the comp, your thoughts

Central Coast Mariners out of W-League
So news today is that the 2010/11 season of the W-League will start on November 5 and will another 10-round competition, but without the Central Coast Mariners.

First of all, it's hardly a surprise, given that Football NSW and NSWIS were supporting two teams (Sydney FC and the Mariners) and the Mariners girls were actually based in Sydney, not at all near Gosford like their men's counterpart. So now there will be two NSW teams, Sydney FC and Newcastle (who are backed by Northern NSW football, so a different entity to Football NSW), but I think will work better for women's football overall in NSW. One team per local federation makes sense to me.

Secondly, it may be one less team, but in a league where the difference between the top and bottom teams in the first two years was quite obvious, is that a bad thing? Instead heading into the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, it will put more pressure on every single player who wants to play W-League this year. There is about 20 less places than last year, it's going to be more competitive just to get into a W-League side. Which is another positive.

So is there any negatives out of this? Well yes, less girls will get a spot on a W-League roster this season, but in addition to my second point, coming out of an Australian Sports Commission conference on women in sport and media coverage yesterday (more on this later), I don't think that's such a bad thing either. The consensus was there, yes, women in sport should have more coverage in mainstream media, but the product has to be great first. One less team will make a more even field, a more competitive league. And I can't see a problem with that. In just the third season, I think it makes a lot more sense to cut back and make the league solid and viable before going forward.

The only other observation I have is that, well, this is going to make Sydney FC pretty unstoppable if they claim Mariners golden boot winner Michelle Heyman. Can't wait for November 5 to roll around.

http://girlswithgame.blogspot.com/2010/07/central-coast-mariners-out-of-w-league.html

FNSW IS FUNDING SYDNEY FC IS THIS FUCKEN RIGHT I DONT THINK SO THIS IS A JOKE

The best women players are not necessarily playing w league. The NSW womens state leagues have better quality players in them than over 70% of the newcastle,sydney, canberra squads.

Besides the matildas and fringe matildas, the rest of the comp is made up of players that can simply make the sacrifice.

so an ffa fail

i actually dont mind watching the W League. i never knew that FNSW supported syf fc and central coast. does anyone know if every W League team supported by their state football organisation?????

The Victory are supported by FFV

this is an absolute joke the teams should be called NSW or VIC not victory of sydney fc this is not right

As much as I hate you PAOKTZI, I agree with this. If these teams are branded as the A-League teams then they should be funded and run by them. The Mariners playing in Sydney was so stupid. They have nothing to do with CCM yet they wore our crest.

i love this i have so many names and ur all got it wrong only if u knew

finally some people accept the truth, i will do my upmost to change this

Agreed... the W-League is a bit of a joke.. really just made up of the best women.... who can afford to make the sacrifice. The FFA did fuck up in the fact that the W-League teams weren't assigned to be managed by their respective teams.... not that any of those clubs would have the money to afford sending a squad of 15 to Perth for a few nights with no chance of getting it back

I have no issue with the W-League. What do you expect? It's government-funded, and considerably better than the WNSL.
When it's the only football your city gets, you put things in perspective.

LOL printscreening this ppl agreeing with ULTRAGIRL

someone should hunt down PAOKTZI and show him

Its sad how the W-League has turned out, but in the end lack of interest and differing priorities of clubs has seen it end up where it is now.

The clubs should definately revert back to Vic, SA, NSW etc., as the links to HAL brands have failed to provide any real benefits.

The comp is in a difficult position now, which can either rebrand, as suggested above, or cease to exist. Its future in its current set up looks dim.

Edited by Heart_fan: 11/1/2011 10:43:11 PM

I'm pretty sure Adelaide are the backers of their w league team but have said next season they may pull out

I believe that is correct...I am sure I read that as well.

same can be said for the A-League

The core business of HAL clubs is its mens team. Like it or not, its their main priority. All other ops become secondary. If the HAL team is struggling, the sole focus will move to helping that.

It can definately be said about the HAL, however it has alot more commercial and fan interest in it though than the W-League teams do, or are are likely to ever achieve, and the owners know that. Womens sport finds it harder to gain traction, which is sad as theres so many great sportswomen out there, with real talent and passion for what they play. The commercial reality though always comes first, and in the end, the mens game gets more attention and the interest flows from that.

Does not excuse the fact that this should not be doen this way, all teams should be named after the state feds that fund them not a private local club

Exactly.

Agree with most comments but not all..

One thing above all else is that it has to survive and keep going even it that requires a re branding as someone suggested.

FFA has made it by license the responsibility of the A Leagie team to support WL but with some teams they have not. Every A league team should have to commit to A League, W League and Youth.

With all of the funds from rego that come from grassroots especially Girls, more funding needs to be provided. Fox need to pick up the contract once ABC contract expires (Congrats to ABC for starting this off)
Viewing of the WL on ABC is quiet high but not promoted

The entire game in both genders is really struggling at top level only, but must survive

AUFC have backed their W-League team since day dot. The problem with it has been that it wasn't being used as a developmental squad for South Australian players - as it is meant to. They have players fly in fly out for games, the new owners have stated that this is no longer going to happen and they want the team to be used to develop our local players and would like assistance from the FFSA to do so.

The main purpose of the league is to provide Matildas and Young Matildas players with game time and the league receives sufficient funding from the Federal Government and Westfield in order to run the competition with the costs for running the teams being met by either the local federation or, at least here in SA currently, the HAL team they are linked to.

This is also the same thought process that went into the creation of the NYL, it is not a reserves league for the HAL but an opportunity for young football players to develop in a professional environment which is outside of the state based elite programs and the AIS.

To in fact level non constructive criticism against these competitions is a disservice to those involved in them of the highest order. If you have an issue with the way either of the competitions are run then state specifically what those issues are and what you think should be being done better. Anything else is either showing stupidity, ignorance or is being done solely for the purpose of creating a climate of confrontation.

In fact it is constructive criticism. The comp needs to be run fully professional otherwise the standard stays the same. A fully professional comp will weed out all the players that are their just because they can make the sacrifice (Ie all of AUFC w league team). Unless every player in this squad is the best adelaide has to offer but as you said most fly in or meet the team on game day at venue. As said the nsw state league and some regional NSW womens comps are currently 10 times stronger than many w league games. Until it is fully professional it is just an exhibition exercise for matildas and fringe matildas player (about 25 players across the w league)

So we all agree that the level of football is poor, but what about the issue state bodies are paying with womens regos fees to promote individual clubs owned by private investors?

This is the biggest scandal I have ever come across in OZZIE football

Doesnt bother me at all as all state feds should have some involvement with a league clubs

Yes this is constructive critisism, and it is slowly being taken on board by the various clubs and the local federations who run the WL sides.

One of the issues facing grassroots competitions for womens football across all of Australia is that getting promotion from one tier to the next can often be extremely damaging to the clubs involved. It is hard for the womens game to attract sufficient sponsorship and other revenue in order to compete once past the level of semi professional. In fact even at semi professional the financial burden on the players and their clubs is often far too high, and I personally cannot see how that is going change any time soon in Australia with the massive amount of disrespect and disinterest in all forms of sport being played by women.

Personally I actually see no reason for football to be a gender divided game, with the increasing emphasis on technical ability being a deciding factor in the level that you can play at - what truely is the diference between highly skilled men and women players of football? Men can run slightly faster than women and in general have a musculature that is more developed. But raw speed and strength are not the defining points in the players that we generally recognise as the best in the world, it is actually their technical ability to move the ball as well as with the ball and their sense of positioning on the field. At this time the male football players are at an advantage as they can develop in and be supported by professional entities, female footballers do not have this luxury.

But I have gone off on a complete tangent here, well sort of!

No we don't all agree that the level of football is poor, individual teams are not well run and play poor football but that is not a statement that can be applied to every team in the competition.

Gladesville Ravens v Sydney Olympic Trial Games Results

posted by on February 7, 2011


The first trial games for all our women teams were held this Sunday at Wyatt Park.

Coaches had the chance to see their teams against our first opponents in the 2011 Super League competition and make some useful notes to fine tune their teams before the competition commences.




Under 12s

Fulltime: Sydney Olympic 1 Gladesville Ravens 1

Halftime: Sydney Olympic 1 Gladesville Ravens 0

The Under 12 girls performed admirably in a 1-1 draw with Gladesville Ravens on Saturday. It took the girls some time to find their feet but as our communication improved and our structure we were able to take the lead with a great strike from Hannah Hijazi. The match was evenly contested and the Ravens struck back in the second half with a great finish in off the post. There were some great individual performances and plenty of positives to take away from the match.




Under 14s

Fulltime: Sydney Olympic 1 Gladesville Ravens 4

Halftime: Sydney Olympic 1 Gladesville Ravens 2

Played in over 30 degree temperatures this match was never going to produce fantastic football but the Olympic girls started off positively. There was plenty of energy and Olympic opened the scoring with a great individual goal scored by Dorothea Makrydimas. Olympic created some more half chances and should have taken at least one of these and ultimately paid the price. The Ravens played to their strengths up the middle of the park and managed to run away with the game with some nicely taken goals. There is plenty of potential in this side and despite the score line many positives to work with.





Under 16s

Fulltime: Sydney Olympic 3 Gladesville Ravens 3

Halftime: Sydney Olympic 1 Gladesville Ravens 3

A good first hit out for the under 16s. Some good football in patches and pleasing to see a developing team spirit and resilience as evidenced with a come from behind draw.

Overall both coaches pleased with the effort and performance of the team.





Reserve Grade

Fulltime: Sydney Olympic 0 Gladesville Ravens 6

Halftime: Sydney Olympic 0 Gladesville Ravens 5

Due to the extreme temperature the match was played in 30 min halves. It was evident in the first 5 - 10 minutes that we were being out played. Ravens first attempted at goal at 3 mins and first scored at 12 mins.

This game was an important exercise for our side, showing us what we need to work on, number one of which is more skillful passing. It is worth mentioning that most of the players in the Ravens side were from their 1st grade team in order to make up numbers on the day, which was not necessarily a bad thing as it has shown us our weaknesses and gives us elements of the game on which we need to work.

The coaching staff and players agreed that more work is needed but they all agreed they would improve every game till the competition commences.




1st Grade

Fulltime: Sydney Olympic 3 Gladesville Ravens 2

Halftime: Sydney Olympic 2 Gladesville Ravens 0

The First Grade team made a great start to the season by beating Gladesville Ravens 3-2.

The score obviously didn't reflect the game stats , where Sydney Olympic outclassed the runners up of the Super league last year, the score line should have been a lot greater, some great football was being displayed with composure being the key of the team when in possession.

The first goal came with a fabulous counter attack and through ball by Melissa Teuma and finished with style by Fay Hammoud, the second goal was a well constructed move down the right when Tracey Ibanez passed the ball to Olympia Avramidis just outside the box and hit an absolute belter from 25 yards out (left foot), keeper did not move and third again Olympia's right foot decided to shoot from 30 yards same result a great goal!




Next trial game for all age groups of our boys teams, this Sunday 13.02.2011 against Inter Lions, a strong opponent that is part of the 2011 Premier League. Please confirm with your coaches/managers or check our website for the times of each game.

http://www.sydneyolympicfc.com/news/2011/02/07/gladesville-ravens-v-sydney-olympic-trial-games-results/

Hi Ultragirl

Although I am more than interested to see how your girls and Women progress this year it shouldnt be hiding under a W League heading.
Open a new thread next time so I can follow the progress

Whilst talking of trials, we (Broadmeadow Magic NNSW WPL) played Central Coast lightning 30th Janaury going down 3-1 (1-1 half time)
Super hot day and a brand new squad this year for us. Only 4 players retained from last years minor premiership team.
Playing them again on the return leg up here 20th Feb

What the fuck does this have to do with the W-League. If you want a women's football thread, start one.

Also, I'm pretty sure the W-League - which you claim is scandalous and a shambles - gets bigger crowds than Olympic.

Why is that?

Last time I checked, the A-League clubs are not members of their respective state federations and do not pay affiliation fees. Why should an organisation like FNSW contribute anything to a PRIVATELY owned franchise?