Edgeworth Junior SC continues to lead the way in female football, with 285 female players making up 33.2 per cent of the club's playing base and women filling 60 per cent of leadership and volunteer roles.
The club's commitment to growing the women's game was recognised when it was named Northern NSW Football's Female Football Week Club of the Year.
Edgeworth Junior SC Events and Female Coordinator Kayla Belcher was thrilled to see the club recognised for its commitment to women in football and understood the importance of young girls seeing their potential firsthand.
"[To win the award] was so special for us as a club," Belcher said.
"We're quite a large club and we have so many women's teams, girls' teams and mixed teams, so to be recognised for that and for the number of female players we have and everything they do for our club, is amazing.
"It's a male-dominated sport, so it's important for us to watch the girls come through and believe they can do anything the men can do.
"A massive part of supporting the girls is the number of adult women we have around the club. Our committee is split 50-50 between men and women and 51 of our 72 teams have female managers. They're amazing and go above and beyond for their teams."
To further support the women and girls at Edgeworth Junior, the club raised money throughout Female Football Week to purchase sanitary dispensers for the bathrooms.
Belcher saw the opportunity to provide something important for the community and was pleased the club could make it happen.
"We've raised money through a raffle, as well as by selling sugar cookies and cupcakes over the weekend and we're using those funds to install sanitary dispensers in our bathrooms," Belcher said.
"It's something really special because it's specifically for the girls and I think it's so important that those facilities are available to them.
"We really wanted to give back to the club and this is something we've looked into and know the girls need.
"It's not something we've seen at other clubs but with such a large female population we thought it would be a fantastic initiative."
Alongside the work the club does year-round, Edgeworth Junior also celebrated Female Football Week with a range of community events, including Edgy Under Lights.
Edgy Under Lights saw the club host events across three nights, welcoming young girls, boys and mixed teams to play football, connect and celebrate the game.
"We run the gala nights over three evenings and kick things off with a girls only Coles MiniRoos night, which is incredible," Belcher said.
"We've noticed there's such a strong atmosphere around the girls' night. They love coming out to play and it's really special for them to have a night dedicated to themselves.
"We also have girls who play in mixed teams and they take part on the Tuesday and Wednesday nights. But Monday is girls only, which is fantastic.
"It's something we hope to continue every year."
