The AFL announced in November 2009 that it would introduce AFL Club-based academies in both NewSouth Wales and Queensland to develop young local talent. The Academies will be designed as ameans of growing the national talent pool in the interests of all AFL Clubs and providing opportunities forelite players to remain in their home state under a bidding system.
The Academies are linked to each of the four AFL clubs in NSW and Qld – the Sydney Swans, theBrisbane Lions and new expansion teams the Gold Coast Football Club and Team GWS (GreaterWestern Sydney). Under the model which will revamp the AFL’s talented player pathway in the northern states, each of thefour AFL clubs will partner with the AFL to identify, attract and develop players as young as 12 years ofage, taking their development through to drafting age for the NAB Draft and NAB Rookie Draft.
The four partnering AFL Clubs in NSW and Queensland will be provided the opportunity to pre-listplayers that are developed through the Academies, under the bidding system that currently applies to allFather-Son selections in the National Draft. This will ensure that any player developed from NSW orQueensland was selected at his ‘market value’. The development programs will now aim to provide the most complete general education and widerfootball coaching experience for hopeful young Queensland stars of tomorrow, and would serve to expand the wider talent pool for all clubs in the AFL competition.
Currently, around 11 per cent of the players on AFL lists originate from NSW/ACT and Queensland, which represent 54 per cent of Australia’s population. The competition for elite young talent in these areas is extremely intense and we require an approach that will enable us to compete effectively to attract first-choice athletes – developing their skills with education and instruction from the best – coupled with the opportunity to then play in their home states once they have been exposed to all clubs in the competition.
In short, we need to provide a more compelling career path for talented youngsters and capitalise on the introduction of the new AFL Clubs to accelerate the growth and development of our overall talent pool for the benefit of all AFL Clubs. The Club Academy programs will be based on the same six core elements of the AIS/AFL Academy curriculum covering but not limited to the following areas: