Sarah Walsh

Sarah Walsh is a former Australian international athlete with 70 caps and 35 international goals for the Matildas.

She has a decorated career including appearances in the 2004 Olympics and 2007 FIFA World Cup. She clinched victory at the 2010 Women’s Asian Cup.
Since then, Sarah has evolved into a sports executive, Logie nominated commentator, and compelling public speaker.

Her firsthand experience in high-performance sports has translated into advocating for pay equity and inclusion, spearheading commercial innovation and ultimately driving social change.

Notably, as Head of Women’s Football for Football Australia, she guided the Matildas to a historic home world cup, generating a staggering $357M in government and commercial investment, with an additional $200M earmarked for community facilities for girls post tournament.

The Matildas shattered viewing records, drawing over 11 million viewers during the semi-final against England making it the single highest rating TV moment of all time. Recently ranked 22nd on News Corps’ list of 100 most influential women in sport, Sarah’s illustrious playing and professional career converge in this pivotal moment.

Based in Sydney

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Book Sarah Walsh Keynote Speaker: Matildas Legend and Sports Executive

Organisations that book Sarah Walsh keynote speaker sessions gain access to a former Australian international athlete with 70 caps and 35 international goals for the Matildas. Sarah Walsh enjoyed a decorated playing career including appearances at the 2004 Olympics and 2007 FIFA World Cup, and clinched victory at the 2010 Women’s Asian Cup. Since retiring from international football, Sarah has evolved into a respected sports executive, Logie-nominated commentator and compelling public speaker whose insights carry weight across sport, media and business.

Her firsthand experience in high-performance sport has translated into advocacy for pay equity and inclusion, spearheading commercial innovation and ultimately driving social change. As Head of Women’s Football for Football Australia, Sarah guided the Matildas to a historic home World Cup, generating a staggering $357 million in government and commercial investment, with an additional $200 million earmarked for community facilities for girls in the tournament’s wake.

Under Sarah’s leadership, the Matildas shattered viewing records, drawing over eleven million viewers during the semi-final against England, making it the single highest-rating television moment in Australian history. Recently ranked twenty-second on News Corp’s list of the 100 most influential women in sport, Sarah brings audiences inside the story of Breaking New Ground, the moment Australia fell in love with women’s sport, from record match attendance and merchandise sales to politicians clamouring to be associated with the team and whole flights of passengers glued to in-flight screens for a penalty shootout.

As a motivational speaker, Sarah’s illustrious playing and executive careers converge in a compelling presentation on leadership, resilience and the power of sport to drive lasting social change. She draws direct parallels between the discipline required at the elite level of international competition and the strategic thinking needed to lead major organisational change off the field. Based in Sydney, Sarah is available for keynotes and corporate events across Australia.

Breaking New Ground

The story of the Matildas, when Australia fell in love with Women’s sport

In 2023 even before the Matildas reached the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup they had broken all of the records.

They achieved record TV viewership, record match attendance, record merchandise sales and a record number of kilometers covered by a single player, Katrina Gorry in the midfield. It was also a record that Katrina Gorry was a new mum, returning to play professionally after 4 only months off the field. Australian politicians took to social media to be associated with the team.

The Minister for Defence announced that his portfolio could be managed by Matildas Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold for 24 hours. The Minister for Sport declared she would like to be the Minister for the Matildas.

Sam Kerr’s calf made record headlines and she hadn’t played a minute. We saw whole flights of passengers watching in-flight entertainment – the Matildas penalty kick-out against France in the Quarter Finals. The AFL screened the game in the stadiums before the AFL fixtures were due to start.

Stadiums around Australia celebrated at the Cortnee Vine goal that sealed the record performance of any Australian team at any Football World Cup. And finally, at the end of the journey, even though the team didn’t take home the silverware they attracted a further $200M from the government to improve community facilities for women and girls – for all of the sports.