COFFS Harbour has been confirmed as a team base camp for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

32 teams from six confederations will descend to Australia and New Zealand from 10 July 2023 to 20 August 2023 for football’s biggest prize which kicks off in Auckland and ends in Sydney with Stadium Australia hosting the World Cup Final.

The four other Northern NSW Regional team base camps are Port Macquarie, Maitland, Cessnock and Speers Point.

Group and finals matches in Australia will all be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) CEO David Eland said Northern NSW Football is committed to working with Football Australia to lure leading nations to the region for the duration of the tournament.

“The northern NSW region has been a go-to for the Matildas in recent years, staging highly successful fixtures against Brazil and Chile,” Eland said.

Already, NNSWF is working with Football Australia and the NSW government to stimulate significant investment in community football facilities to ensure that the game has the capacity to cater for the surge in female participation in the sport.

The NSW government recently announced they have committed $50m to specifically improve sports amenities for females in regional NSW – which is a great start.

“We’re already seeing an increase in female participation across the sport with interim numbers for 2021 registrations showing 26 percent of current registrations being female compared to 23 per cent in 2019 (YoY comparison) – and there’s still time for young girls and boys to register for the season,” Eland said.

“This emphasises the ongoing support local clubs will need in obtaining funding to ensure that talented female players, regardless of where they live, can access the expertise and competitive opportunities required to reach their potential.”

Eland said just because Newcastle was not a host city, it did not mean northern NSW residents would miss out on matches.

“Fortunately, Sydney is easily accessible from the Hunter Region and travelling north to Brisbane from the North Coast and Far North Coast is also accessible,” Eland said.

“Like with other large international tournaments, we’ll investigate how we can facilitate opportunities for the football community throughout northern NSW to attend fixtures in Sydney and Brisbane.

“The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is a once in a lifetime opportunity to partner the government to deliver an enduring legacy for our game and our communities, bring on 2023,” said Eland.

 

By David WIGLEY