The club previously had junior and senior sides - men's and women's - spread across the FNSW and Football South Coast leagues, but all teams will now be aligned under one pathway.

The change includes the Flame's women's open and reserves team joining the FNSW Women's League One, while the club's youth girls have been accepted into FNSW Girls League Two, highlighting the growth of women's football in the region.

It has been a key area of focus for the Flame in recent years, with Emi Skopal being a driving force. Skopal, who plays for the club's women's open's side and is also head of the FSC Women's Football Council, believes the move will allow more young talent to get better opportunities.

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"It's definitely exciting to be the first club in the Illawarra to have both full pathways, for the men's and the women's, in the Football NSW NPL set up. I think it's a big step for the region given the talent that comes out of this area," she said.

"I think last season was difficult for the club, given they were effectively a standalone team in the (FSC) women's competition.

"There was no capacity to borrow players because the younger squads were in Football NSW competitions.

"It also took those opportunities away from the younger ones because they couldn't step up into the women's comp unless they were totally re-registered into a different comp.

"So I think this move provides a more simplistic pathway for the younger ones. If they're having a good performance in their age group, we now have the ability to bring those players up to the next level."

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Skopal is gearing up for her second season with the Flame, having competed in FSC's Women's Division One in 2021.

The side was sitting ninth on the ladder before their campaign was cancelled due to COVID.

Skopal admitted it was "an unknown" to move into the NSW NPL next year.

"I didn't play with the girls when they played in the Girls Conference League, but the team was successful.

"I think five teams have been upgraded from the conference league into league one, but I guess the unknown is there are so many other teams in that competition that it's hard to see what the talent is like," she said.

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"But I think the test that our girls had in the Women's League One was really good, and it's a shame that the season got cut short because we were about to come into our own.

"The girls were learning a lot from that experience because they were playing against older players, and the competitive nature of the league is still there.

"I think moving across to the Football NSW comp, it might be a more technical game, but we'll have to wait and see when we get to round one."

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