All ten Victorian clubs have been assigned academy regions in Victoria and the Northern Territory to develop underage indigenous and multicultural talent as the AFL continues its push to grow the game.
St Kilda has been allocated the inner southern Melbourne region, including the Sandringham Dragons catchment zone, as well as the city of Frankston.
AFL football operations boss Mark Evans explained the introduction of the club aligned academies would help draw new people to our game and help broaden the appeal of our game to a variety of backgrounds.
“The academies will look to build strong links between local communities, grassroots football and the elite level, to ensure our game is representative, inclusive and embraces gender and cultural diversity,” Evans said.
“For Australian Football to prosper in the future we must invest in new and emerging communities, and reinforce the pathways for indigenous Australians.
“The Academies will enable AFL clubs to be actively involved in introducing kids of all backgrounds to the game and provide aspirational pathways for coaches, umpires and administrators.”
The finer details of the new talent concession system are yet to be finalised, but it is likely these academies will follow a similar pathway to the northern clubs which via a bidding system can draft academy aligned players using a discounted rate.
“It is important we provide clubs with an incentive to develop a presence in these communities, and help attract talented indigenous and multicultural players who would not otherwise play AFL or are underrepresented,” Evans said.
“Work on the academies began more than 12 months ago and at every stage of the process clubs have been consulted to help determine the fairest and most effective structure.
“The allocation of regions has been based on a range of factors – aligning to existing U/18 talent regions, minimising player travel and access issues, aligning AFL Clubs to current or historical relationships with certain communities and balanced access to 5-18 year olds from diverse backgrounds.”
