Independent Football Australia

🏆 IFA YOUTH LEAGUE – ROUND 20 ROUND UP ⚽️
⬅️ SWIPE ACROSS ⬅️

💻 Full ladders available via the IFA Youth League website – Link in bio.

🏆 Team Ladders
⚽ Golden Boot Race
🧤 Golden Gloves Standings
⭐ Player of the Season Points

Round 20 is in the books — and as the IFA Youth League moves into the business end of the season, the intensity continues to rise. 🔥⚽️

The football is getting sharper.

The contests are getting tighter.

And across the U14 and U16 competitions, players and teams are being asked to find another level.

⚡ Faster decisions
🎯 Greater ex*****on
🧠 Smarter football
💪 More resilience when the pressure arrives

This is where months of training, competition and development begin to show themselves.

Across the pitch, we’re seeing young players growing increasingly comfortable with the demands of high-quality football, playing with confidence, solving problems under pressure and having the courage to influence matches.

And behind that progression is the work being done every week by IFA Member Academies and their coaches. 👏

With the season moving towards its final stages, there is plenty beginning to take shape:

📊 Ladder positions are becoming increasingly important.
⚽ The Golden Boot contenders continue to find the net.
🧤 Goalkeepers are fighting for every clean sheet.
⭐ The Player of the Season race continues to evolve with every performance.

There is plenty on the line.
But there is also plenty still to be learned.
Because the real value of these moments isn’t simply where a player or team finishes.

It’s learning:
✅ How to perform when the game gets quicker.
✅ How to respond when momentum shifts.
✅ How to make the right decision when time and space disappear.
✅ How to keep competing when the challenge becomes uncomfortable.

Those are the experiences that develop footballers!📈⚽️

🏁The finish line is getting closer.
🔥The standard isn’t dropping.
and neither is the ambition!🏆🥇

🚨 WEEK 14 CO-WINNERS 🚨
🧤 SAVE OF THE WEEK CO-WINNERS:
🥇 Harrison Price – Prodigy Football
🥇 Tomaso Araco – playathletefootballacademy

🤝 WE COULDN’T SPLIT THEM! 2 outstanding defensive moments. 2 very different saves. And when the final votes were counted, absolutely nothing separated them!

🛑 First up, Harrison Price produced a brilliant piece of instinctive defending when his team needed him most! And here’s the best part… HE’S NOT EVEN A GOALKEEPER! 🤯 With a dangerous strike heading towards goal, Harrison showed fantastic awareness and positioning to put himself in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, using his head to clear the ball away and nullify the attacking threat without using his hands! 👏

🧤 Meanwhile, Tomaso Araco once again showed why he is becoming a familiar face in our Save of the Week awards! With a dangerous effort threatening the top of the goal, Tomaso demonstrated exceptional reflexes and athleticism to spring into action and expertly tip the ball over the bar! 🚀

📊 The IFA Family clearly couldn’t separate these two either! Harrison and Tomaso finished JOINT WINNERS with 45% of the total vote EACH when polls closed at 10am on Saturday, August 29th! 🤝🔥

🌟 Representing Prodigy Football, Harrison’s save is a brilliant reminder that defending your goal isn’t only the goalkeeper’s responsibility. His awareness, positioning and willingness to put himself in the firing line were outstanding, particularly for a player who doesn’t normally play between the posts! 👏

🌟 For Tomaso and Play Athlete Football Academy, it’s another addition to what is becoming an impressive collection of Save of the Week performances this season! No stranger to this award, Tomaso continues to showcase his athleticism, reflexes and shot-stopping ability whenever his goal comes under threat.

🎬 Did your academy score a screamer this weekend?
🧤 Did your goalkeeper pull off something special?
📲 Upload your entries for Goal & Save of the Week competition!

👇🏻 HOW TO ENTER:
✅ Upload your video to Instagram
✅ Tag IFA - Independent Football Australia
✅ Use the hashtag OR

🚨 WEEK 14 WINNER 🚨
⚽️ GOAL OF THE WEEK WINNER:
🥇 Dean Sinani –

🚀 An absolutely THUNDEROUS strike from Dean Sinani! Receiving the ball around halfway, Dean immediately went to work producing a brilliant piece of skill to dodge his first defender and leave him on the ground before driving forward into space.

With defenders desperately closing him down, Dean unleashed an absolute ROCKET from deep, sending the ball flying into the TOP LEFT-HAND CORNER of the goal! 🤯🚀

⚽️ Power, skill, confidence and an emphatic finish all rolled into one spectacular goal! 🔥🎯 Dean’s incredible strike proved hugely popular with the IFA Family, accruing 46% of the public vote when polls closed at 10am on Saturday, August 29th. 🙏

🌟 Representing Football Lab in the U12’s, Dean is establishing himself as a phenomenal young striker with an exciting combination of power, technical quality, athleticism and an eye for goal. And this certainly isn’t his first appearance on the Goal of the Week stage!

👀 Dean also claimed GOAL OF THE WEEK at the 2026 IFA National Cup, Dean is certainly one to keep an eye on as his game continues to develop! 👏⚽️📈

📣 A massive shoutout to Dean’s family and the coaches at Football Lab who continue to provide the encouragement, guidance and high-quality football environment for him to learn, develop and express himself on the pitch. Behind every exciting young footballer is a team helping them along the journey, and moments like this are a fantastic reflection of the hard work being put in by Dean and everyone supporting his development! 🫶😊

From unbelievable strikes to clutch saves under pressure… Each week has delivered moments worth watching again and again!🎥⚡️

🎬 Did your academy score a screamer this weekend?
🧤 Did your goalkeeper pull off something special?
📲 Upload your entries for Goal & Save of the Week competition!

👇🏻 HOW TO ENTER:
✅ Upload your video to Instagram
✅ Tag IFA - Independent Football Australia
✅ Use the hashtag OR

⚔️ One moment can change everything!
🎥 Let the highlights roll!😝

🏆SAVE OF THE WEEK🧤
🗳️VOTE FOR SAVE OF THE WEEK!
🫵🏻YOU DECIDE! HAVE YOUR SAY!🗣️

We have 4 shortlisted nominees for Save of the Week for Week 14 and WE NEED YOUR SAY! This is a public vote to decide.

⬅️ SWIPE to view! ⬅️
Save A: Tomaso Araco - Play Athlete
Save B: Sam Molam - Prodigy Football
Save C: Harrison Price - Prodigy Football
Save D: Cooper Lidbury - ASA Football

🗳️Vote in the poll attached to this post to decide! Click below to vote!

🚨PLEASE NOTE: Voting closes at 10:00am AEST TOMORROW MORNING (Saturday, August, 29th)

🏆GOAL OF THE WEEK⚽️
🗳️VOTE FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK!
🫵🏻YOU DECIDE! HAVE YOUR SAY!🗣️

We have 4 shortlisted nominees for Goal of the Week for Week 14 and WE NEED YOUR SAY! This is a public vote to decide.

⬅️ SWIPE to view! ⬅️
Goal A: Dean Sinani - Football Lab
Goal B: Luca Palmano - ASA Football
Goal C: Oscar Haddon - TS11 Football
Goal D: Aiden Anderson - ASA Football

🗳️Vote in the poll attached to this post to decide! Click below to vote!

🚨PLEASE NOTE: Voting closes at 10:00am AEST TOMORROW MORNING (Saturday, August 29th)

🏆 IFA YOUTH LEAGUE – ROUND 20 ⚽️

🔥 THE RUN HOME IS ON!🔥
We’re deep into the season now and with the final rounds approaching the intensity on the pitch is only getting higher!📈⚽️

This Sunday, 30 August, the IFA Youth League returns to Hills Grammar for Round 20 as the battle for momentum, position and a place in the finals continues.

The inaugural season has been memorable for all the right reason and it’s only going to get better!

The margins are getting smaller.
The pressure is building.
And every performance matters.

🏟️ Hills Grammar School
📅 Sunday, 30 August
🛡️ 12 Academies
⚽️ 23 Teams
☝🏻One uncompromising standard

And as the stakes continue to rise, so does the quality of football on display!🌟⚽️

Week after week, the IFA Youth League continues to showcase an outstanding standard of Academy Football… technically gifted players being challenged to think quicker, play faster and compete harder in a high-quality environment.

Every duel matters.
Every possession counts.
Every point is precious.
Every team has something to play for.

For some, it’s about strengthening their position.

For others, it’s about making a late charge.

For everyone, it’s about raising the standard when the stakes are at their highest!💪🔥

👉 Who steps up when the pressure rises?
👉 Who builds the momentum they’ll carry into finals?
👉 Who produces something special when their team needs it most?
👉 And who makes their statement as we enter the business end of the season?

The countdown to finals is ON!⏳🏆

Development. Competition. Pressure. Progress.

Round 20. Hills Grammar. Sunday.

BRING IT ON!🔥⚽️

📣 IFA BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT | LUCETTE SPARTALIS STEPS DOWN

🛡️Independent Football Australia has announced that Lucette Spartalis has stepped down from the IFA Board as a Non-Executive Director, effective 13 August 2026, bringing to a close more than four years of significant and dedicated service to the organisation.

👉Since joining the Board in May 2022, Lucette has played a highly valued role during an important period of IFA’s growth and development, particularly across brand and communications strategy, stakeholder engagement and external positioning.

📝Her work has helped shape the way IFA presents and communicates with its members, stakeholders and the broader football community. Lucette has contributed to a wide range of initiatives, including stakeholder and working groups, IFA events and AGMs, member communications and the development of IFA’s sponsorship and commercial partnership activities.
Much of Lucette’s contribution has occurred behind the scenes and entirely on a voluntary basis, but her influence can be seen throughout the organisation IFA has become today.

🗣️IFA Chair Marc Chiarella thanked Lucette for her contribution.
“Lucette has had a significant influence on how IFA looks, feels and communicates. A great deal of the organisation people recognise today reflects work she has done, often quietly and behind the scenes.”

“She has given IFA an enormous amount of her time, expertise and judgement. The Board is extremely grateful for everything she has contributed and we will certainly miss her perspective.”

Lucette has balanced her contribution to IFA alongside significant professional and personal commitments. As those commitments have continued to grow, we respect her decision to step down from the Board.

IFA sincerely thanks Lucette for her contribution and service and wishes her every success for the future.🙏🏻

📣CALLING ALL REFEREES!🚨
📍SYDNEY & ADELAIDE

👉We are looking for passionate, reliable referees to join our IFA Match Day Team!⚽️

🛡️This is your opportunity to officiate within a professional, development-first football environment and play an important role in creating a positive match-day experience for Australia’s next generation of football players.

🫵Whether you’re an experienced referee or looking to take the next step in your officiating journey, we want to hear from you!

✅ Competitive academy football
✅ Supportive match-day environment
✅ Opportunities available in Sydney and Adelaide
✅ Be part of the growing IFA community

📩 Interested? Send us an e-Mail:
[email protected]

Help us make football the best day of the week! 🙌

🚨 WEEK 13 WINNER 🚨
🧤 SAVE OF THE WEEK WINNER:
🥇 Sam Molam – Prodigy Football

🎂The Birthday Boy delivers the goods!

🛑 A SPECTACULAR near-post save from Sam Molam! With Football Lab launching an all-out assault on goal, Sam showed outstanding goalkeeping instincts, making himself big and reacting in a flash to produce a brilliant stop at the near post! 🧤⚡️ Under enormous pressure and with almost no time to react, Sam stood tall! This incredible save captured the attention of the IFA Family, with Sam securing the majority (41%) of the total vote from 438 votes when polls closed at 10am on Saturday, August 22nd.

🌟 Representing Prodigy Football, Sam continues to demonstrate the qualities of an exciting young goalkeeper with the confidence to take control of dangerous situations. His ability to quickly read the play, close down attacking players and react decisively when his goal is under threat are fantastic qualities to be developing at such a young age.

🧤 A terrific young shot stopper, Sam combines sharp reflexes and strong positioning with the courage and decisiveness required to defend his goal under pressure.

📣 Shout out to Sam’s amazing family for their ongoing support of his football journey, along with his coaches at Prodigy Football for the time, guidance and commitment they continue to invest in his development! Every young goalkeeper needs a great team behind them, and Sam certainly has plenty of support as he continues to grow and develop! 🫶😊

From unbelievable strikes to clutch saves under pressure… Each week has delivered moments worth watching again and again!🎥⚡️

🎬 Did your academy score a screamer this weekend?
🧤 Did your goalkeeper pull off something special?
📲 Upload your entries for Goal & Save of the Week competition!

👇🏻 HOW TO ENTER:
✅ Upload your video to Instagram
✅ Tag IFA - Independent Football Australia
✅ Use the hashtag OR

⚔️ One moment can change everything!
🎥 Let the highlights roll!😝