Changes for female football coming as 10-year plan to be formulated for northern participation decline
A raft of changes are on the way for the women’s and girls competitions, while a big picture plan will be formulated to combat waning participation. AFL Barwon has given an update on both issues.
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AFL Barwon is set to make a raft of changes to female football in 2025 as the peak body works towards a 10 year-plan to combat waning participation numbers in the northern suburbs.
The AFL Barwon Football and Netball Operations Committee will meet before the end of the month and decide which proposed changes will come into action next year for women’s and girls football.
Clubs from across the region have delivered feedback on a number of proposed changes for women’s and girls football, which have come after a year of consultation with AFL Barwon.
The potential changes include: bringing the current girls under-19s football back to an under-18s competition and having games played on Friday; implementing total team points across all women’s divisions and reducing the number of divisions to improve equalisation in the competition; and removing grading games to ensure the fixture can be released earlier and more competitive matches can be played.
It comes as AFL Barwon came together with seven northern clubs – Anakie, Bell Park, Corio, Lara, North Shore and North Geelong – from the region and key stakeholders on Friday to discuss declining participation and other issues facing them.
AFL Barwon regional manager Ed Wilson said the potential changes for women’s and girls football were the “most significant” on the table for 2025 across the entire region.
“It’s really reflecting firstly, the strategic equity between our men’s and women’s offerings across our two sports, Wilson said.
“But it also is reflective of how, whilst we have a competitions across all age groups locally that are experiencing almost double digit growth in terms of participant numbers, we need to stay at the forefront of keeping those competitions sustainable and that’s why there’s a raft of changes across the board that we are currently proposed to implement.
“So it’s a really positive position that we have with women and girls football, but we also acknowledge you’ve got to continue to advance it to ensure you get more people coming to play the sports.”
Women’s football will also move to Saturday’s – as had been forecast – but clubs will have flexibility with timings of matches and playing particular games on Friday night.
Feedback from clubs also found they are opposed to bringing in a salary cap for women’s football, believing that it would put an unnecessary strain on the competition and impact participation.
The total team points change could impact Thomson in particular in 2025, who won seven games this season but were unable to earn points on the ladder last season due to being over the division one TTP threshold.
The Tigers entered the senior women’s competition in 2023 with no juniors.
“We proposing having total teams points across all of our divisions in senior women’s,” Wilson said.
“So what it does mean is that for all clubs there is going to be that requirement to meet and be under that total team points. What that exact number looks like, what the allocation is down to that commission decision at their upcoming meeting.
“And then once we’re in a position to be able to communicate that, that will then allow all clubs to then assess their lists and make sure that they fit within that and they’re aligned within that.”
Wilson said AFL Barwon along with clubs in the northern suburbs will have to get creative to combat waning participation numbers.
“We’ve got to look at ways that people can play our sport, so having different ways to actually participate,” Wilson said.
“Is it AFL Nines or is it the 18 or 18 on a Saturday, is there other forms of participation that can happen within schools that ensure that kids are kicking footies and are actually actively participating in the game.
“What we need to do is make our sport look attractive to anyone and everyone in that part of our region to therefore get more people playing our sport.”
Programs within schools to get children into Aussie rules were among the suggestions to boost participation.
Stakeholders were in agreement that the Northern Stars Junoor Football Club and development program, which feeds juniors into Corio and North Shore, has been successful and should be persisted with.
Wilson said the next step will be crafting a plan for the future, which is expected to be finalised by early next year.
“Once a draft of that strategy for the next 5-10 years has been developed, we will then be sharing that strategy with all of those stakeholders and enabling all stakeholders the opportunity to buy into the strategy and also then understand what role everyone has to play in that strategy,” Wilson said.
“If further face-to-face discussions and engagements are required, then absolutely we will make that happen.”
Originally published as Changes for female football coming as 10-year plan to be formulated for northern participation decline
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