Lynley Muller leaves the field after playing his fourth football match.
The Adelaide Jaguars player is surrounded by her two children, who spent the afternoon watching their mother replace the goalkeeper after a last-minute team reshuffle.
“I’m finally in my element,” said the Division Six player as she smiled from the touchline after stopping several goals.
“I could yell out on the field and tell the team they were doing a great job, cheer them on and then all of a sudden it was like, game on, get in the zone.”
Ms Muller is one of about 1,300 South Australian girls and women who have returned to football or started playing the sport for the first time this year.
Clubs across the state rate the player 24 percent The Matildas effect, a phenomenon that swept across the country during the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup, was discussed..
The Adelaide Jaguars are South Australia’s largest women’s football club. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
Matildas’ momentum is back is expected to spread across Adelaide this week, ahead of the team’s clash with China at Adelaide Oval on Friday..
For players like Ms Muller, it’s a chance to see their heroes up close.
“If I hadn’t watched (Matildas midfielder) Katrina Gorry and her fight, her struggle as a mother… being able to bring her daughter to games, bring her family as part of her journey, I wouldn’t have gotten involved,” she said.
“The Matildas inspire me”
This year, around 120 new players have joined the Adelaide Jaguars, South Australia’s largest all-women’s football club, located in Adelaide’s west.
Several of the new recruits have joined the community’s senior women’s league.
One of them is Emilie Jones, who traded in her ballet shoes for football boots to join the Division Six Jaguars.
Emilie Jones says she swapped ballet for football. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
Like Ms Muller, she was inspired by the Matildas’ World Cup success.
“Before that, I was a competitive dancer, so football wasn’t in my plans,” Jones says.
“I always grew up watching the men’s AFL on TV and (the World Cup) was the first time I saw women’s football, or any women’s sport, being talked about so much.
“I thought maybe I could give it a try.”
The Jags have also seen a big increase in junior players.
Lilly Storrie, nine, joined the club after watching her favourite Matildas players Sam Kerr and Ellie Carpenter play in the World Cup.
“The Matildas inspire me,” she says.
“My dad played football and when the Matildas came along I started playing.”
“We turned down about 100 players”
According to Football SA, 65 more women’s and girls’ teams are participating in local competitions this year compared to last year.
But not all aspiring players found it easy to join a team.
Some clubs are turning away players due to a lack of pitches, coaches and equipment.
Lilly Storrie started playing soccer after watching her favourite Matildas players. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
“We’ve turned away about 100 players from the Adelaide Jaguars because we’re at capacity,” said club president Bronny Brooks.
“It makes us a little sad, to be honest, because we want to be a place where every woman and every girl can play, but we literally don’t have the resources to be able to accommodate these players.”
Football SA CEO Michael Carter says there is currently a limit to the number of new players clubs can bring in.
“Many clubs turn away players every year through the trial process because they simply cannot accommodate them,” he explains.
“It’s a good position to be in because the popularity of the game is good, but… we have to look at alternative competitions, social competitions, indoor, outdoor, and think about how we’re going to do that in the future.”
Local clubs lack ‘basic needs’
Despite being the largest all-women’s football club in South Africa, the Jags do not have a permanent base.
The club currently leases council-owned land at Jubilee Reserve in West Lakes and Football SA-owned land at West Beach.
Ms Brooks says the club has advocated at all levels of government for a permanent stadium to accommodate more players, but has failed to find a solution.
Bronny Brooks says there is a shortage of land to house the club. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
“Most of our coaches have equipment in their cars,” she said.
“We just don’t have all those basic needs of the club.”
Part of the problem, Brooks says, is a lack of land.
“There’s a lot of urban infill in the western suburbs and I think the green spaces are at capacity,” she said.
“It’s actually our 15th anniversary this year, so the land space that women’s sport had at the time, to create a club and have the opportunity to grow, was pretty minimal.”
Mr Carter acknowledges the open spaces in Adelaide’s west are “high quality” with the region already home to several football clubs.
“Almost every club I talk to – and there are over 300 in the state – is looking for new land, so it’s a big challenge,” he said.
Questions about the South African government grant program
At last year’s Women’s World Cup, the South African government announced it would spend $18 million over the next three years on a new grant program, called “Power of Her,” to develop women’s sport.
Of that money, $10 million was quarantined for football and $2.8 million was released in the first round of grants.
“If you really want to support girls and women in sport, you have to work to ensure that they have the right facilities, the facilities that they deserve,” said South African Sports Minister Katrine Hildyard.
“A large part of this funding has gone into developing, building and improving facilities to ensure that girls can participate equally and actively.”
Mr Carter said Football SA had given the government a guarantee that it would contribute $10 million towards women’s football.
Michael Carter says there is currently a limit to the number of new players clubs can bring in. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
The government received 62 applications in the first round of grants.
Among them, 13 came from football clubs or other organisations seeking to improve women’s football facilities.
Ms Brooks claims the Jaguars were not eligible to apply for an infrastructure grant because the club does not own any land and does not have landowner consent to build or upgrade its facilities.
“It’s not designed for a club that doesn’t have access to land space – you have to have it to begin with,” she says.
“It didn’t solve all the problems.”
“No one has found an answer yet”
But Ms Hildyard says the Jaguars were eligible to apply.
“They have a problem with their permanent housing,” she said.
“I have asked my office and the Office of Recreation, Sports and Racing to work with them to establish this permanent home.
“I know these conversations are happening and I’m really pleased that we can work alongside them in this direction.”
Katrine Hildyard says her office is working to find a home for the Adelaide Jaguars. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Mr Carter says clubs can share facilities.
“We know there is a lot of pressure on the Jaguars, we have spoken to the club, we are very supportive, but we have to be patient,” he said.
“We just have to work very carefully with all possible parties to get the result we need.”
Ms Brooks says she hopes the Jaguars will find a permanent home within the next 12 months.
She says that until a solution is found, the club will continue to be a “squeaky wheel”.
“We will continue to show our growth, to stay positive,” she said.
“We hope that at some point someone will say, ‘This is a club that needs help.’
“We’ve had some good conversations, but no one has come up with an answer yet.”
