Football Australia Celebrate Women’s Football Ahead of Women’s World Cup

February 17, 2023

Ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 (July 20 - August 20), Football Australia has launched the #LoveOurGame campaign. The campaign celebrates Australian women’s football and encourages participants to embrace their love of the game and its positive impacts. It is part of the national governing body’s "Our Game" initiative, which intends to harness the power of football to elevate women and girls and increase diversity and inclusion in the sport.

Announced in December 2021, Our Game was created to leverage the Women’s World Cup and increase opportunities for Australian football and its mission to become the nation’s largest community sport to reach gender parity by 2027. Through extensive research into the factors that attract women and girls at all levels of the game and keep them in the sport, the initiative’s ambition is to build an inclusive and diverse football community of over 400,000 more women, girls and non-binary persons as participants.

To do this, Our Game tackles the barriers of accessibility and apprehension that stop women and girls from fully participating in the game. The initiative enhances visibility and awareness of the various avenues of involvement, celebrates accomplishments and provides resources and activities that present opportunities for women, girls and non-binary persons of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to be part of football.

“For well over a decade now, women’s football has seen unprecedented growth and popularity in Australia. This year we celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the first recorded public women’s football match and while the women’s game has progressed significantly in the past century, we also acknowledge that there is much more we can achieve,” said James Johnson, CEO of Football Australia.

With 153 days to go until the Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, Football Australia and the state Member Federations will continue to grow the Our Game initiative through storytelling and the celebration of key milestones including 100 Days to Go (April 11) and Female Football Week (May 19-28). The campaign video launched this week created by the governing body’s production partner, Chisel. It features women, girls and non-binary people between 16 and 28 from various backgrounds demonstrating how football can be played and enjoyed, inspiring others to get involved in the game.

The video will feature on Football Australia’s broadcast partner Network Ten and in-stadia during the 2023 Cup of Nations (16 – 22 February) and other relevant Football Australia events throughout 2023, supported by a national digital campaign that invites the community to share their personal stories and post why they #LoveOurGame. 

“Through Our Game, we can transform how women and girls see themselves and their involvement in football. Vitally, this is their opportunity to shape and own what the future looks like for women and girls in football. I believe, and we have seen the evidence internationally, that in informing, emboldening and promoting the unique culture of the women's game, we can accomplish a long-lasting and genuinely positive impact on football,” said Sarah Walsh, Head of Women's Football, Women's World Cup Legacy and Inclusion, Football Australia.

In addition to the Our Game initiative, part of Football Australia’s Legacy’23 strategy includes the Our Game Women and Non-Binary Persons in Media program, which began last week with an initial ten participants selected from across Australia. The pilot program addresses the barriers to entry into sports media for women and non-binary persons by providing opportunities to their build industry networks and develop and hone their skills and knowledge with the assistance of industry professionals and mentors.