On the surface, it might not seem like an impactful adjustment, but Orange District Football Association president Tony Mileto says more female role models will lead to increased participation rates among up and coming players.

Re-branding the top-tier women's league will make those stars more prominent, thus giving them a 50-50 spotlight share with the men.

"I think it's a great idea," Mileto said.

"We've found that when The Matildas are on TV and playing, there's more young ladies who have the motivation to participate themselves. It stimulates enthusiasm to play."

ODFA is always making strides to ensure there's adequate competitions and pathways for up and coming female football players, because the talent is most certainly there.

"We're always trying to promote the sport for females," he said.

"We want to give them the opportunity to play at the highest level. There's a lot of talent coming out of the Western region.

"Here at Orange, we've got a population of 42,000 so we're competing netball, rugby union and a lot of other sports, but there's always avenues for women to play at a high level."

A perfect example of elite-level Orange talent is youngster Harriet Shuttleworth who was selected for the Junior Matildas after bursting onto the scene in the ODFA.

"That's what we want to see," he said.

"The opportunities are there. People can definitely make it to a high level."

Australian Professional Leagues managing director Danny Townsend expanded on why the decision to re-brand was made.

"Bringing the female game up onto a level playing was something we felt really strongly about," he told ABC.

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