The Ors and the Bulkeleys are among the families who have benefited from Dunbar’s fee-free program. 

Natalia Ors' daughters Aisha and Aliya, and her three sons, all play for Rovers, and without the program, they wouldn’t have been able to play at the same level.

“Dunbar have helped me so much as a parent,' she said. "They really are changing players' lives.

“Having five children, life in general is so expensive, so having the fee-free football program has allowed the kids to play at a higher level with professional coaching at a great community- based club.

“If it wasn’t for the program, they might have missed out, but now I have three children who are able to play in higher leagues and I don’t need to try and scrape through to get that money together.

“Now I get to see the girls thrive and grow with each day.

"Dunbar have really created a program to change football history."

Natalia’s daughter Aisha added: “The best part about playing for the Dunbar Rovers is that they give opportunities to players who are less privileged to chase their dreams of being a professional footballer.”

Sister Aliya said her game had improved dramatically because to the opportunities with Dunbar Rovers.

“Dunbar has improved me so much as an individual by offering me the opportunity to play in a league that I wouldn’t have had access to before," she said.

“I’ve been able to grow not only as a player but as a person. The coaching is amazing and I have made life-long friends that I will be forever grateful for.”

Andrew Bulkeley's daughter Annie also plays for the club  and he added: “The fee-free program certainly opens doors for a larger community of girls to access the game at a higher level.

"In doing so, they enlarge the future talent pool for women’s football in Australia.”

Annie said that if the Dunbar Rovers fee-free program didn’t exist, she wouldn’t have been able to expand her skills the way she wanted to.

“I probably just would’ve joined a local club that didn’t offer the same level of challenge. I had the opportunity to join an NPL club, but I chose to join Dunbar as I liked their strategy on how to play football, along with being able to join under their fee-free program.”

In terms of what’s next for the program Greenwood said

“Hopefully as we look ahead, the second year of this program will attract more players and continue to offer pathways for girls to develop their fledgling football careers.

“Currently, the boy’s program has grown to a point where players who miss out on a sport in the NPL squads are offered to stay on in one of the development clubs. It is a goal of ours to mirror this with the girls so that they can still train and work with those who might not be quite ready yet.

“I believe it’s criminal to discard players at a young age, as it’s a prime time to invest time and effort into improving them. They may not be ready today but giving them a chance at tomorrow is better than never.”

Click here to find out more about the Dunbar Rovers fee-free program.