Researcher on coach bench brings science to Junior Matildas' win streak
He’s been the Assistant Coach of the CommBank Junior Matildas since April, and CQU sleep scientist Dr Michele Lastella brings decades of relevant research to the role.
Dr Lastella recently coached the Australian women’s u16s football team to tournament victory at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Cup 2025 in Surakata, Indonesia, as the girls achieved an unbeaten run in the nine-team competition.
The role is his latest in a life-long passion for football, and follows his five years as Assistant Coach at the Adelaide United A-League Women’s team.
And it is Dr Lastella’s expertise in sleep and recovery, sport psychology and physiology, that drives his approach for high performance coaching.
“Even before we got on the field, we had to have a lot of strategy around recovering from jet lag, and ensuring very strict set bedtimes and wakeup times – that is so important for sleep consistency, and maximising your physical recovery,” he explained.
Sleep hygiene recommendations also include ensuring adequate time for sleep, especially after night games, and reducing sleep disruption on flights with ear plugs and eye masks.
“While the timezone shift was only three hours, it was also the first time a lot of our players had been overseas, so excitement levels were high! And of course that impacts how you sleep, and adapt to new climate conditions too.”
While the players travelled with their own head of security and private chef, Dr Lastella said he was the only sleep specialist on the Junior Matildas team – but rest is emerging as a priority for all high-performance athletes.
“For instance, our players get support from a great strength and conditioning coach who has direct access to the Australian Institute of Sport’s REST Hub, which offers evidence-based resources to manage recovery, environment, sleep, and travel for athletes,” he said.
“CQU’s Appleton Institute members work closely with the AIS to provide new and practical research for REST Hub, to inform best-practice advice for players.”
Dr Lastella has also been Head Coach of the National Training Centre Women’s program at Football South Australia since 2018 – and says his leadership roles highlight the growing focus of science-informed management in elite sport.
“It’s not enough to tell athletes, ‘get as strong as you can’, or ‘get as skilled as you can’ – because individually and as a team, you’re not going to reach full potential if you’re not taking a scientific approach to managing your body, and your headspace,” he said.
“And the science tells us, sleep can do wonders for both!”
In April Dr Lastella also coached the Young Matildas to tournament victory in an under-20s competition in Canberra, and will travel with the Juniors to Singapore for the Asian Cup qualifiers later this year.
Across 25 – 26 October, he’s also presenting at the Football Queensland Convention, an industry initiative to grow football across the state.
Earlier this year, CQUniversity became a Football Queensland partner, with initiatives to strengthen player development, coach education, and sports science research. CQU is also an official partner of the convention.
Dr Lastella’s keynote will share research and real-world insights on how footballers can better sleep, for recovery and performance.
Earlier this year, Dr Lastella was a co-author of new book Sleep and Sport, the first research-informed textbook in the emerging field, guiding sport and performance professionals, trainers, coaches, and athletes to better understand the science of sleep and how it applies to sport and performance.
Appleton Institute is CQUniversity’s Adelaide-based flagship research centre for behavioural sciences across physical activity, sleep and biological rhythms, and operational readiness.
