Northern NSW Football is thrilled to announce that its Technical Director Ryan Doidge has been appointed to the coaching staff for Australia’s inaugural under-15s National Select side.
Australia’s under-15s National Select side will compete at the inaugural FIFA Under-15 World Cup & Festival in Azerbaijan next month.
The tournament will be held from Thursday 22 to Saturday 31 October and will bring together emerging players from across Australia and around the world.
The appointment will provide Doidge with an opportunity to work at an international level while continuing his development alongside coaches and players from across the country.
“This is a proud moment for myself in my career,” Doidge said.
“It’s an opportunity to put myself in an environment where I can continue to be challenged and work with players who have been identified from across the whole country.
“It’s a level that I’m excited about working within and certainly looking forward to the opportunity including the opportunities to network with coaches, not just from our country but from across the globe and expose myself to different football and cultures.”
Doidge’s appointment follows several years of player development work with NNSWF, where he has helped guide players through the National Youth Championships and Emerging Championships pathways since joining the organisation in 2022.
During that period, NNSWF has recorded multiple quarter-final and semi-final finishes on the national stage, while its under-16s boys won bronze and its under-16s girls won silver at the 2024 National Youth Championships. The under-16 boys also won bronze in 2026.
NNSWF players have also continued to earn individual recognition on the national stage. Caoimhe Bray was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the 2024 National Youth Championships for Girls, while three NNSWF players were selected to the 2025 Emerging Matildas Championships Team of the Tournament.
Two NNSWF players were named to the 2026 under-15 and under-16 Emerging Matildas Championships Teams of the Tournament, while three were selected to the 2026 under-16 Emerging Boys Championships Team of the Tournament.
Doidge said that experience had helped prepare him for the opportunity with Football Australia.
“The work I’ve done to date with Northern NSW Football, especially in the player development space linking to National Youth Championships and Emerging Championships, has provided me with knowledge, experience and expertise, especially working with players in this age group to then take that into this World Cup festival,” Doidge said.
NNSWF product Raman Dalaf will also represent the region after being selected in Football Australia’s inaugural under-15s National Select squad.
For Doidge, Dalaf’s selection provided an opportunity to measure the progress of northern NSW players against their peers from across Australia.
“It will provide a great opportunity to benchmark. We have a player in that squad, Raman Dalaf,” Doidge said.
“It’ll be a good opportunity to benchmark where our current players are across northern NSW internally.
“To then try and explain that to coaches across our region and inside Northern NSW Football, so we know where our shortfalls are, where we can potentially look to further develop our own players, to then try and push more into this international environment, will be important.”
Doidge also saw the appointment as an opportunity to bring new experiences and knowledge back to the region and contribute to the development of local coaches.
“I think there’s also an opportunity around coach development and bringing back these experiences to our own coaches,” Doidge said.
“It’s something I’ll certainly look to do, either towards the end of this year or the beginning of next year.”
Doidge’s qualifications include the Football Australia Professional Diploma, which he completed in 2024, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in High Performance with Coaching.
He has previously held roles with the New York Red Bulls, Western Sydney Wanderers, North Shore Mariners, Northbridge Bulls and Dee Why FC.
The national appointment will now give Doidge the opportunity to test his experience in an international environment before bringing those lessons back to NNSWF.
“Personally, for me, it’s about further challenging myself to be able to bring my knowledge, expertise and level of professionalism to a national team setup,” Doidge said.