![Canberra United player Grace Maher. Picture by James Croucher Canberra United player Grace Maher. Picture by James Croucher](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168198572/8a448cd6-340c-4961-af28-40ab95ebb3dd.jpg/r0_0_7651_4894_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Grace Maher is a champion for women at every level of her sport. And it's players like her World Cup organisers are hoping become the blueprint for the future of women's soccer in Australia.
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Because even though Maher is juggling her own career ambitions and an A-League Women's finals bid, she sees the bigger picture of what looms as a game-changing year for the sport.
"The saying, 'If you can't see it you can't be it', is so true," Canberra United midfielder and junior football coach Maher said.
"As a player, even not being in the World Cup, but being around it and playing in the league here, we can take that and really connect with the community and build off that.
"We're going to have a much richer football culture and I think some future Matildas as a result.
"It's really exciting to have this World Cup when there's so much momentum behind women's sport and football.
"We're going to see huge benefits for the next generation, not only women and girls, but boys as well, because they're going to be seeing these incredible athletes up close."
From working with juniors at her club Majura Football Club with her mum, to playing for Canberra United, on International Women's Day she wanted to celebrate how far her sport has come.
She said veteran United teammates like Ellie Brush and Michelle Heyman have blazed the trail for players like her, and while sexism in society does still exist, it pales in comparison to what female footballers used to have to endure.
Better pay, conditions, greater professionalism, more media coverage and investment have all progressed women's football in the last decade and perfectly culminated in a home World Cup with a golden generation of Matildas led by global superstar captain Sam Kerr.
"Having played before minimum contracts existed, when I got I think $1200 for two seasons, now it's not weird when you ask a player if they're working anywhere else and they say, 'No, I'm just playing football'," Maher said.
"We still have to work out what we do in the off-season sometimes, but that's still a huge change and a huge mentality shift for a lot of young girls."
Maher looked up to Matildas legend Sally Shipard growing up, but credits her mum as one of her greatest role models, having helped introduce her to coaching.
The 23-year-old now wants to do the same for the girls she coaches too, trying to spread the message that female participation in sport doesn't start and end with playing the game, with multiple other avenues to get involved and women under-represented on and off the field.
"At my junior club Majura, we've been recruiting young girls to coach with us. I help them, they learn themselves, showing you don't necessarily have to be making it at the top level in football to be so involved in the game you love," Maher said.
"There's so many roles that you can be in sport that's not just playing. It's really important to get girls involved.
"I want to be a role model for my football community. I find it so rewarding and valuable to be down on the ground, working with kids, seeing them and talking to them about the future, not always about what I'm doing though, but what they can do."
![Matildas captain Sam Kerr with fans. Picture by Getty Images Matildas captain Sam Kerr with fans. Picture by Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/168198572/273ee2d6-1464-45bc-87bc-41357b5712b7.jpg/r0_212_4150_2554_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
FIFA Chief Women's Football Officer Sarai Bareman said the arrival of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will be a major "catalyst" for further progress long after the final whistle in the tournament, with flow-on effects expected beyond the pitch too.
"Everything that we do with this tournament is to advance women, not only in football, but in society more generally and it is great to recognise that during International Women's Day," she said.
"It's about looking into the future and doing what we can to ensure that that next generation don't have to overcome the same challenges and barriers that we have.
"It will create a catalyst for all the people that are working day to day in the woman's game.
"There's a big boost and an acceleration of what they're doing, so I love the fact that we can leverage this event to drive the progress."
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