Geoff Abrahams is not only Western Sydney Wanderers’ Ninja A-League head coach, but also the youth technical director of the Wanderers Girls Academy. He spoke to aleagues.com.au about the program after an historic first season, the exciting talent coming through and creating an identity.
There is a theme in this interview, and it centres on identity.
“We needed to create an identity with our A-League team on the field, but I think also as a club, now that we have an academy, we can have a real identity there as far as what we’re about and which is progressing players,” Geoff Abrahams told aleagues.com.au.
Key to that identity was the launch of Western Sydney Wanderers’ women’s academy in 2025.
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The club’s women’s academy are coming off an historic debut campaign, with Western Sydney competing in the NPL this season – a “proud milestone in the club’s growing commitment to women’s football”.
Abrahams has been instrumental in Western Sydney’s women’s space as not only their Ninja A-League head coach but youth technical director of the Wanderers Girls Academy. It is all part of his “mission”.
A “whirlwind” inaugural campaign – put together in less than a month – for the Wanderers was capped by another historic feat after being named Football NSW Youth Club champions.
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Their academy teams also enjoyed success across all age groups on the pitch – the Under-14s and U16s were crowned minor premiers, while the U15s and U18s finished the season as runners-up.
A total of 11 players earned international recognition through selection in junior national teams representing various countries, while 24 players also competed in the prestigious Emerging Matildas Tournament.
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“It’s something the club wanted to do for a long time, and we’d been speaking about it a lot,” said Abrahams, who has been with the Wanderers in various roles since 2017.
“We had our Wander Women program, but that was just a once-a-week sort of thing. We were doing that just hoping at some point it was going to lead into being able to have an academy, and then it come up really quickly.
“We got given the license really late. I was appointed pretty late, and then we basically built it in three weeks. So Tom (Sermanni) and with a bit of help from Football New South Wales too.
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“I was probably surprised. I knew there’d be teething problems, but they went pretty smoothly. And I think my coaches and all the people helping us, just helped make it a pretty good success. For the players themselves, there was a bit of success.
“We’re not trying to win leagues and win competitions, but we should come close to that anyway if we’re doing things well. We never really had a focus on aiming to win games and win leagues. And to be honest, I want them to be challenged, and I don’t want it to be too easy.
“We pushed a lot of girls up, and it’s funny, we had some girls starting in Under-15s and finishing in the NPL team. The really exciting thing is going from having no one in sort of the first Junior Matildas camp to having five of them named and a couple of standbys too, and then some others in the Young Matildas from our older girls.
“I think that’s the exciting thing, those girls progressing, and lots of them training with the A-League. It helps that I’m the coach, but it just means I’m across every player at the club, and if I think there’s special ones, I can sort of bring them in and see how they go.
“But that’s been the exciting part, just each player getting better. The results are just a by-product.”
Teenage trailblazer Nikkita Fazzari sums up the academy program.
There is more to come from the Wanderers too as Western Sydney look to unearth future stars, not only for the club but the national team.
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“I’m excited because I watch them day in, day out. There’s a 14-year-old with us now in the A-League, there’s another 14-year-old that’s in our U23s now, that’s pretty special,” said Abrahams.
“I think it’s important to say, I think a lot of people will always say, look at what we’ve done with our players. I think all our players, there’s a lot of things that have gone into their development, and there’s a lot of different people who have had a little part of it. They go to sports schools. They’ve done private academies. We sort of took them in this year, right? And some of them we’ve had at Wander Women, and they’ve been in our environment.
“A few of them, years ago, came through our pre-academy into Wander Women, now into the academy. But there are a lot of people who have added to their development. I’m careful not to just say, look at what we’ve done. I guess we’ve just tried to facilitate an environment where they can get even better.
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“That’s been what I’ve been really excited about, is that we’ve been able to progress girls really quickly, and in our environment, they’ve maybe accelerated and seeing some get national recognition.
“I reckon there’s a player or three in every single age group that I look at and go, right, she could be a Matilda. That’s pretty cool to be able to say it.
“It might not eventuate. It might be other players that end up progressing because development sort of goes in waves. But there’ll be players each year coming into the A-League, and that’ll start this year with Nikkita and a couple of other younger players.”
It all ties into the Ninja A-League program, which Fazzari is now a part of under Abrahams.
That clear pathway is exciting for all at the Wanderers but as Round 1 beckons, Abrahams – with the support of Isuzu UTE A-League boss and former CommBank Matildas coach Alen Stajcic – is out to “change the perception” of Western Sydney’s Ninja A-League team who have not featured in the Finals Series since 2019-20.
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“We have players that want to win, and we’re a big club that hasn’t done well in women’s football, and we all sort of acknowledge that,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ve really had an identity. We’ve been pretty disappointing in the women’s space, and I’m on a mission to change the perception and leave a legacy.
“Now that we’ve got this academy, I think it’s important we do well. If we just keep being disappointing, results wise, that doesn’t sit right with me. We need to be a big club, and we need to do well.
“I’ve got to recruit and put together a good team, and I’m lucky enough to have a lot of good players, and there’s still that element to it. We want to develop great players for Australia as well, and I want these players to make careers for themselves. I want to provide the best possible environment for them to do well.
“If they’re doing well, if we do well as a team, then the individuals get the accolades too and progress. Hopefully some of the young ones get overseas, but in the meantime, hopefully we can win some trophies or compete.
“Alen Stajcic, he’s obviously at the club, and he’s hugely invested in women’s football, and he’s been a real driver of that with me. He really wants the women’s team to do well.
“We work pretty closely with the men’s staff, and we share the same offices, but we share resources, and I feel the club is very together on improving the women’s program.
“We’ve all just said enough’s enough. We need to start doing well. That’s an identity on the field.
“It’s making sure our players have a have a good culture to come and be a part of and enjoy themselves while they’re doing all the hard work and getting results with that as well.”
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