The Matildas star training with a men's team for her Olympic dream

To Michelle Heyman, it's rocking up to training to inspire the next generation, then having a session against a men's team just to keep her Olympic Games hopes alive and a few hours later, shaking hands with the Prime Minister.

"How inspirational is she," says Tigers FC under-14s girls manager Maddie Sinclair.

"She's just so approachable and down to earth. Her comeback story is the most amazing story I've heard. I absolutely love it as a female and people judge females because of their age. I just think Michelle is phenomenal."

The fact Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stopped and exclaimed: "I know who you are!" at the AIS last week sums up everything about Heyman's wild journey over the past few months.

Albanese was being introduced to athletes from a range of sports before announcing $250 million in funding to improve the AIS campus in Bruce. He politely asked questions of those he didn't know, but didn't need prompting when it came to Heyman.

It wasn't that long ago Heyman was out of sight and out of mind for the Matildas. Now she's one of the most recognisable players in the national team.

Even so, she has been starved of game time since Canberra United's season ended in March. So in search of extra training, she contacted former United assistant Ali Riza Efe, who is now the coach of the Tigers FC men's NPL team.

"I didn't have any hesitation when she came along," Efe said. "The team has been amazing and welcoming ... it has brought lots of positives to our training.

"I've included her in every practice. It is a challenge for them, and it helps them get ready. Her shots ... three of them the other night were outstanding. She was cleaning spiderwebs out of the corners.

"I said to her at training, 'every single day I am proud of you'. She's 36 and she's getting ready for an Olympic Games ... I've got no doubt she can get there."

Heyman will play for the A-League All Stars next week to get crucial game time before going into camp for the Matildas' Paris preparations.

She will also continue training with Tigers FC, and doing her individual sessions at the AIS before going into the Matildas' selection camp.

The ultimate goal is Paris. But if you ask Sinclair, Heyman has already won judging by the looks on the faces of the Tigers' under-14s players.

The Tigers launched their first girls team this year at the request of Sinclair, who wanted her daughter Freya to have an opportunity to play.

With Heyman, and Canberra United teammates Sasha Grove and Nicki Flannery, training with the club's men's team, the girls side invited the trio for a meet and greet.

"It was brilliant," Sinclair said. "To have them speak to the girls was just an amazing experience."

Sinclair said she decided to pursue setting up the first Tigers girls team after watching the Matildas at the World Cup last year and getting caught up in the hype.

It follows a trend in Capital Football. Some clubs are enjoying a 300 per cent boom in women's and girls participation, while the overall female player numbers have jumped by more than 1000.

"The Matildas took over the country," Sinclair said. "I felt like this was the time to start a girl's team [at the Tigers] and use the Matildas bounce to keep the momentum going rather than stopping and launching it later.