From 8 to 17 May 2026, football pitches across Australia lit up with something bigger than a game. Female Football Week returned for another year of celebrating, elevating and empowering the women and girls who make football what it is: players, coaches, referees, administrators and volunteers.

More Than a Week: It's a Mission

Female Football Week is a national initiative run by Football Australia, with every state federation joining in to recognise the extraordinary contributions of women and girls to the game. But 2026 marked a new chapter: for the first time, FFW was celebrated alongside Our Game, a bold new community initiative designed to build a passionate, inclusive movement that places women and girls at the centre of football's future.^[1]

It could not have come at a better moment. Football Australia's 2025 National Participation Report confirmed that women's and girls' participation now stands at 231,435 across outdoor, futsal and social formats, a 4 per cent increase on 2024 and a figure that continues to trend upward year on year.^[2]

This momentum was built on the foundation of two landmark tournaments. As the Australian Government noted, this year's celebrations build on the excitement generated by both the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, co-hosted right here in Australia, and the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, which brought the best of Asian women's football to our shores this year.^[2]

Through Our Game and Female Football Week, we aim to harness the power of football to build an inclusive and diverse game that embraces, positively influences, celebrates and elevates women and girls.

Football Australia, Our Game Initiative

How Australia Got Involved

One of the most powerful things about Female Football Week is how it belongs to everyone. There is no single venue, no ticketed event; it ripples outward through thousands of local clubs, associations and communities from Queensland to Western Australia. Here is a snapshot of what unfolded.

The Women Being Celebrated

Awards were a centrepiece of Female Football Week 2026, with federations around the country naming the women and girls who are quietly (and not so quietly) transforming the game at a local level.

Football West's 2026 Female Football Week Awards were presented at a Women in Football Breakfast at the Sam Kerr Football Centre. Cassie Paxman of Albany Rovers was named Coach of the Year, having led the Great Southern Soccer Association women's team to victory on debut at the 2025 senior country week. Georgia Whitelaw was recognised as Referee of the Year.^[4]

Nominations were also open nationally through Football Australia's Our Game platform, ensuring that extraordinary community members who might otherwise go unrecognised had a chance to be seen and celebrated.

Why This Week Matters to Us at Hero Athletica

At Hero Athletica, we believe sport is one of the most powerful tools we have for building confidence, identity and belonging in young women and girls. Female Football Week is a perfect expression of that belief; it does not just celebrate the game, it celebrates what the game does for people.

The numbers are growing. The investment is growing. The visibility is growing. But the most important thing growing is the number of girls who see themselves reflected in this sport, as players, coaches, referees and leaders, and believe they have a place in it.

With the AFC Women's Asian Cup hosted in Australia this year and Brisbane 2032 on the horizon, the stage is set for Australia to continue leading the world not just in women's football, but in what women's football can mean for a generation.