Football Australia and LEGO have revealed the latest OUR GAME content series in their continuing mission to encourage girls to Play Unstoppable.
Launching to celebrate International Day of the Girl and speaking to its theme of "Girls' vision for the future", the five-part Talia takes on… Play Unstoppable Mentorship series builds on the LEGO Group's "PLAY UNSTOPPABLE" campaign and explores the limitless possibilities for girls when they can play without boundaries.
The digitally led series, produced by award winning production house, Visual Domain, showcases the avenues of participation for girls in Australian football through the voice and perspective of 15-year-old CommBank Junior Matildas and Western Sydney Wanderers FC midfielder, Talia Younis.
Published over a period of 15 days, each episode documents Talia's interactions and mentorship from women in football across diverse areas including:
- Administration - with the only current female A-Leagues CEO Alyssar Narey
- Medical - through CommBank Junior Matildas PHD physiotherapist Stella Veith
- Media - in collaboration with sports and lifestyle photographer Kelsey Zafiridis
- Coaching - with community girls' head coach Zainab Jaber
- Refereeing - guided by Football NSW community official Chloe Gray.
Drawing on their own personal experiences, each mentor sheds light on her career path with Talia and viewers uncovering dimensions of each mentor's role in the game.
Girls are then provided the tools to start their own football journey through online resources, available from the OUR GAME website and social media, and the opportunity for schools to have access to a group of OUR GAME mentors for in-school appearances.
Talia Younis expressed that the Play Unstoppable Mentorship was a valuable look into the efforts thousands of women in football undertake weekly and a chance to discover how to potentially start her own off-field journey.
"As a player, you don't always get the chance to see first-hand the incredible work so many people do that allows us to play the game we love," said Younis.
"Alyssar, Stella, Kelsey, Zainab and Chloe have shown me that there are so many more ways that I can be part of football beyond the pitch.
"From my experience during this Play Unstoppable Mentorship, I want girls to know that anything is possible for us in football. That we can be whatever we want to be with so many strong women leading the way as they make football better every day for girls like me."
"That football has all these roles is exciting to me as I now know that when I finish playing the game, I can still have an important role to play in the future," Younis concluded.
While the numbers of women and girls taking up and playing football in Australia rose 20% in the last 12 months[1], women are still behind in off-field roles in the sporting industry - in Australia and globally.
Despite making up more than half the Australian workforce (51%), women only comprise of 19.4% of CEO positions[2]. In High Performance sport, women occupy only 9% of coaching positions despite making up 50% of the Australian Olympic Team athletes for Paris 2024™[3]. Only 17% of Australian sports journalists are female, with 27% of articles published with a female byline.[4]
Justine McKenny, Senior Director & Head of Marketing for LEGO Australia & NZ said that spotlighting these off-field roles is vital to unlocking the full potential of girls and not limiting the extent of their vision for the future.
"The LEGO Group has been dedicated to inspiring and developing the builders of tomorrow through play for over 90 years and we know that the skills developed through LEGO play are equally relevant to all children. We're excited to partner with Football Australia to help champion and stand up for girls' creativity. Through the new OUR GAME content series, we hope to inspire and empower girls to explore the transformative impact of their creativity both on and off field."
