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 the 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 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 per cent in the last 12 months, 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 per cent), women only comprise of 19.4 per cent of CEO positions. In High Performance sport, women occupy only nine per cent of coaching positions despite making up half of the Australian Olympic Team athletes for Paris 2024. Only 17 per cent of Australian sports journalists are female, with 27 per cent of articles published with a female byline.
Justine McKenny, senior director and 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.”
The Talia takes on… content series follows on from the successful 2023 release of the original four-part OUR GAME Unstoppable series.
It will be promoted extensively across digital and PR, leveraging the power of the women’s sport fan base and rolls out across Football Australia’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X accounts with the first episode released on 11 October and the final episode on 25 October 2024.
TALIA TAKES ON… SERIES RELEASE DATES
11 October – Episode One: Talia takes on… Being the boss with Alyssar Narey
15 October – Episode Two: Talia takes on… Takin’ Snaps with Kelsey Zafiridis
18 October – Episode Three: Talia takes on… Sport science with Stella Veith
22 October – Episode Four: Talia takes on… Calling the shots with Chloe Gray
25 October – Episode Five: Talia takes on… Teaching people with Zainab Jaber
CREDITS
Football Australia
General Manager – Women’s Football: Carlee Millikin
General Manager – Marketing: Nicole Zosh
Marketing Co-ordinator: Isabella Biasetto
Communications & PR: Ann Odong
Visual Domain
Creative Director: Adam Connolly
Senior Client Success Manager: Sarah Worthington
Producer: Claudia Fitzgerald & Caleb Rodda
Director: Annabel Barratt
DOP: Darren Wertheim
Cam Op & AC: Josh Hargrave
Location Sound: Mario Gabrieli
Production Assistant: Kim Jin
DOP (Melbourne): Josh Hargrave
Cam Assist (Melbourne): Alex McLaren
Location Sound (Melbourne): Brendan Muller
Art Director: Erin Dayley
Editor: Sabine Battel & Kelly Webster
Grade: Daniel Stonehouse CSI
