The Central Coast Mariners are proud to announce that the Club’s A-League Women’s program will continue its partnership with Central Coast Sports College (CCSC). The Mariners Women’s squad will keep its home base at the College’s Kariong campus for the 2026/27 Ninja A-League season and beyond.
The renewed agreement continues a relationship between the club and the College that goes back more than a decade. It means the Mariners Women keep a dedicated place to train, recover and grow, and also means CCSC students will continue being able to see professional female footballers up close at work on their own campus every week.
The Mariners and CCSC have worked together since the College’s earliest days. In June 2013, the International Football School at Mount Penang, as CCSC was then known, entered an historic first partnership.
In October 2020, the two organisations took the partnership a step further with a program focused on women’s football, built to give female footballers and coaches a full-time environment on the Central Coast and in regional NSW. The program created a pathway from the College into the Mariners’ NPL Women’s program, and gave players and coaches access to the school’s resources and education programs.
When the Mariners returned to the A-League Women for the 2023/24 season after eight years away, the club needed a training base. That base became the Women’s High Performance Centre at Central Coast Sports College, a dedicated women’s training facility built to be the program’s long-term home and to develop the next generation of A-League talent.
Key features of the Centre include:
- A high-performance gym provided by England’s Lionesses. England were based on the Central Coast during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, staying in Terrigal and training in Gosford. When they left, the Lionesses gifted their gym equipment to the Mariners, about $584,000 worth. That equipment now forms the heart of the strength and conditioning space at the Centre.
- NSW Government investment. The NSW Government committed $500,000 towards the Centre’s long-term development, reflecting its commitment to giving women and girls proper access to quality sporting facilities.
- A space designed for women first. Unlike programs that work around men’s or academy schedules, the Centre is set up around the needs, timetable and wellbeing of the Mariners Women’s squad.
The facility’s role in the club’s recent history speaks for itself. In just their second season back in the competition, the Mariners Women were crowned 2024/25 A-League Women Champions, beating Melbourne Victory in the Grand Final. Yet few seasons have shown the value of stability more than this one so far.
Eliza Famiton and Annalise Rasmussen are prominent Central Coast Mariners past and present players respectively that have come through the partnership between the Club and the Sports College. Familton, currently playing with the Mariners, joined the Mariners Academy at the Under 14s level as a student-athlete at the College, later signing a scholarship contract with the A-League team and scoring on her debut.
Rasmussen, now shining bright in Europe at France’s Toulouse FC, developed through the College and Mariners Academy pathway before becoming the A-League Women’s team’s inaugural signing upon its return to the league.
Former Mariners player Ollie Bozanic wears a hat at both the Mariners Women and the College, as Assistant Coach of the Ninja A-League squad and a member of the football coaching staff at the school.
Ollie emphasises how “important for football on the Central Coast” the partnership between the Mariners and CCSC is.
“It brings the community together, there’s an opportunity for all our young students and kids from the school and the Coast to be able to aspire to and then play for the Mariners one day themselves.”
“It’s an amazing set up here at the school, from [CCSC Founder & CEO] Paul Chapman who set up this school and created a unique pathway for students. It’s a very unique environment that has massive benefits to our community and the people on the coast.”
“The facilities are second to none here, with the pitches they have available, the home of Mariners Women’s football is here at the school now with change rooms, the gym, and our own staff set-up at the top and another room we use to do our video, tactical analysis and all else. The school provides an amazing base for us to be able to compete at the very top level in the A-League.”
Central Coast Sports College is an independent K-12 school with close to 1,000 students that combines academic learning with specialist sports programs, including a football program modelled on leading youth development systems around the world.
Having a professional women’s team based on campus brings real benefits for those students:
- Role models they can see. Students, especially girls, see professional footballers training on their campus every week. The A-League Women stops being something on TV and becomes the team down the corridor.
- A visible pathway. The partnership continues the link built in 2020 between College football and the Mariners’ women’s programs, showing students a clear road from school football to the professional game.
- Learning from the professionals. Being around an elite program gives student-athletes a first-hand look at professional standards in training, recovery, preparation and professionalism. †
- Pride in their community. Students are part of the story of a club that brought a national championship to the Central Coast.
“For our student athletes to be able to see the girls train every day and see the unbelievable coaching staff – Dean, Ollie, and everyone around – and get a picture of what professional sport looks like live is pretty cool to create pathways for them.” said Director of Marketing & Partnerships and former Mariners CEO Greg Brownlow.
“It’s exceptionally important”, Greg added, “for [the Mariners Women] to feel like they have a home and we’re glad we play a role in that. We feel like we’re well connected, it’s a good strategic partnership, too, and we love having the Mariners Women here.”
“Our students can feel it, see it, and really know what they want to aspire to.”
The renewed partnership keeps the Mariners Women rooted in the community they represent, from the training base at Kariong to home matches at polytec Stadium.
Mariners fans can support the women’s 2026/27 Ninja A-League campaign by heading to home games this season, with the next scheduled for this Saturday 14 November at 5PM against Perth Glory. Full fixtures and tickets are available at ccmariners.com.au.
