Red Card For Mummy & Other Soccer Stories

The Price of Entry. I love this phrase. It fits for anything you really have to try for , if you really want to achieve and is the key nugget of wisdom from my chat with Junior Matildas Coach, Mike Cooper for the latest episode of Red Card For Mummy.There's a price of entry for all players if you want to be good. If you want to be elite, the price is higher. Who knows, when you get in, you may come home with a door prize.So as Australia celebrates her soccer gene as the World Cup kicks off and our Instagram reels are swamped  by  gyrating Ugandan Kids, Tim Payne and Norwegian Vikings pulling imaginary oars, I can't help but reflect on the effort it takes to get there. To a World Cup , that is. For players. For parents. For Everyone. The Price of Entry.Nothing in the world of football is  certain, except that  everyone is just one ACL injury away from wanting an exercise bike for Christmas.But there are some things in sport that are true. On the point of that ACL. It mightn’t be that, but you will get injured. You will have to do the rehab. That’s if you want to make a comeback. An injury is not a shame or an aberration or an unexpected shock. It is the part of the price of entry. As is forgoing social life, getting up at sparrows fart, and eating so many bananas you would swing from the trees if your arms weren't so sore from gym.One would normally expect this to apply to  Ronaldo or Neymar or Sam Kerr or Mary Fowler or any of the superstars who have hairstyles the kids drag us to the hairdresser to copy.  But this could be your life too. Whether you have hopes and dreams for yourself, or your kid has found themselves on an elite pathway and it’s your role to facilitate each step without really knowing where it's all heading.  You may be paying your own price of entry, for them. Like learning to work from your car. or forgetting your partner's name.This episode of Red Card For Mummy was recorded in Suzhou China, at the Under 17 Women’s Asia Cup. Coach Mike Cooper is the custodian of Junior Matildas in the Matildas pillar of Junior, Young under 23 women and senior Matildas squads. Via this Asia Cup, Mike will take the Junior Matildas to their first ever  Under 17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco this November.  The Joeys will play the Men’s under 17 World Cup in Qatar in November.  The Big Matildas take on the world in Brazil, next year. Tell everyone.Mike takes us inside the Junior Matildas Asia Cup camp.  Here, they grow players for the future. Joe Montemurro is all over it, as he would be. The investment is for him. Everything here  is to prepare the girls for the next step in their Matildas journey. If any of them make the cut.So who are these coaches moulding the next generation of footballing youth, in a country still establishing its football culture as a potent force? For those of us who didn’t grow up with the game, how does it work? What does it take? and most importantly, what's the strategy?This podcast is the first in a series  from Red card For Mummy about growing champions, from grassroots to the globe  Insiders will tell you what’s going on. The do's and the don'ts. The universal truths. So beware. Difficult truths may arise.Bottom line, it's about mindset. The mindset of the players, the officials, the coaches the families.  When you have to stare effort in the face. When consistency begs for a sickie, when resilience is so hard you can barely spell it.  It gets hard for everyone, but the experience is  beyond contemplation.Join me for Red card For Mummy and Junior Matildas Coach Mike Cooper. If you've ever wanted to be better, it could be the price of entry.

Philip Mango, Captain and Goal keeper of the brand spanking new Solomon Island Kings, is everything about diplomacy that football sets out to be. Plucked from his basketball side as a teen to fill in as Goal Keeper in a school game because he could jump, Mango largely learned his skills guarding the net from you tube and a pamphlet given to him by OFC Goalkeeping Consultant James Bannatyne, a visiting coach on a development mission. In this deeply religious country that boasts an economy still largely based on fishing and farming just enough for the nations own use, Philip Mango at 30 is now one of the new breed of leaders learning management, mindset and physical empowerment through football; taking it back into the community in one of the worlds least developed nations. The Solomon Island Kings are the countries first ever professional club, created by the national government, the Solomon Islands Football Federation, and Australian club Wynnum Wolves. Never in his wildest dreams did Philip mango expect that he would be able to create a prodessional pathway in sport. beyond his pkaying and his capatincy, he has now been appointed as an educator for the OFC GK C License Course.

Neil Poloso is the referee development office at the Oceania Football Confederation , based in the Solomon Islands. In this inaugural season of the Oceania Pro League- which is a Club based competition in the Oceania region- Neil explains how the Video Assisted Referee system works. You know when the referee makes a rectangular box with his fingers to signify he needs to watch something over? Thats the VAR in action , and it’s about time we found out exactly how it all operates, when it’s used, and whether the tail wags the dog or the dog is in control of the tail.

Tell it like it is, Journalist Sam Lewis. She's a pioneer in the women's footballing space in Australia and has she got a Red Card to give out, as Australia's Matilda's just miss out on the silverware to Japan 0-1 in the 2026 World Cup Final hosted in Australia. In the wake of the loss there have been recriminations, blame, and believe it or not, in some sections, calm analysis. But Sam Lewis has the wisdom and analysis to identify the straight in the development road where it all comes undone for women hoping to play professional soccer in Australia - its the A - League. What is the A - league? So many keep asking, outside the tent. And voila, for those hoping to take a step inside soccers inner footbal workings - here is the answer. For the pottered history of Australia's professional soccer scene that every follower needs to be across....don't miss this candid and insightful episode with journo and advocate Sam Lewis.

Alicia Ferguson, known as Eesh - gives you the rundown on the great women of the game you really need to know, especially at this time of the Asian Cup in Australia. Eesh takes us into the dressing room for the story of the team - the relationships, the career paths, the babies, the adventures for a remarkably candid insight into the lives of women who have changed sport in Australia for all.

Ok. So the sound on this ones a bit wonky - but persist, my friends, persist. Once again, Football is so much more than what's on the pitch. David Beckham is the man who, through Football changed men's style - he made it cool to take an interest in your appearance. Haircuts are totally integrated into the Soccer life style - and it's split over into other sports; whether it be AFL or NFL. Who are the Footballers who's hair changed the world? Beckham, Ronaldo - even Messi has taken the Messy from his locks.Joey Scandizzo is Australia's foremost stylist for men and women, and integral to the style of some of the Australian Football Leagues greatest stars. But is it any surprise that he is Italian, and grew up watching the Serie A league? With an candid tongue and an eye for hair trends, Joey Scandizzo is in the box seat to help you get your kid the hairstyle he so desires - in fact, he's even got some solutions for your very own kit man, as Ange Postacoglou re fashions what middle aged Euro men can do with the hair ; or lack of it, on their heads. The Modern Guy knows how to dress, how to smell, how to groom. Blame it on BeckhamWanna chat? Send us an email at redcardformummy@gmail .com or slide into direct messages on @redcardformummy on Insta.

She's 45 years old, and still is the #1 Keeper for Melbourne City. Melissa Barbieri is an Australian Goal Keeping Legend, former captain of the Matildas, and a stalwart of the team for over a decade. Her view of the game of soccer, women's football, is a view of it's time - a successful woman, still at the peak of her powers, also working as on eof the rare female coaches in the women's game. Melissa is not one to hold back in her views on leadership, life in football as a woman, the gender pay issues and the boys club. And yet her longevity and candour have held in her marvellous stead , as she takes her football and applies it to every aspect of the journey to success.

Guillaume and Arnold Castillo, soccer's son and father internet sensations, have created a showcase of young Australian footballing talent with their Instagram hit, @au.ballerz. At any game, you can see them filming - Guillaume, all of 15 years, conducting his world famous endearing interviews with other young trojans, basking in the spotlight of their youthful footballing fame. It's a labour of love for Arnold and 16 year old Guillaume, who lost their wife and mother Gael back in January of this year. And yet @au.ballerz has forged a bond between them that lifts them to heights unimagined - events, travel, autographs, gigs. And with the 2026 World Cup in their sights, it's time to tell everyone the story of @au.ballerz as its come so far, as the social media sensation turns not only it's makers, but its subjects, into the footballing stars they all imagine they could be.