On Friday night, the Matildas are set to dazzle a massive Marvel Stadium crowd with their football talent. And across Victoria this weekend, thousands of other women and girls will play in one of the many community sporting leagues scattered across the state. But only last week, the Victorian government quietly cut funding from a prominent statewide program, designed to increase gender equality in sport. On Thursday, interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni reignited demands for better funding, sponsorship and support for professional female soccer players. The calls for more financial support - from professional leagues to community programs - underline the stark reality of women’s sport in Australia, which is struggling to attract the necessary funding at all levels. Victoria’s latest budget revealed that funding for the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) would be cut. The program was created specifically to bolster the number of women and girls participating in sport by providing Change Our Game community grants as well as encouraging equal access to sporting facilities.