Crows Action? - AFL Scholarship Program In NSW

[WaynesWorld19]

Quote: AFL

Frequently Asked Questions

AFL Scholarship Program1. Is my son eligible?

To be eligible for the scholarship program a player must meet the following criteria:

Age – a boy must have turned 15, 16 or 17 by 31 December in the year of prior to being listed for a scholarship.

Region – the player must be domiciled in the developing market region (DMR) of NSW (as stipulated in the map provided in the scholarship program document) or a student of a school in the DMR for greater than 3 years (with his family domiciled in NSW/ACT).

Scholarship listed players, if selected, are required to be representatives of NSW State teams at the National Championships.

2. How is my son selected for a scholarship?

Ordinarily your son will progress through the normal talent pathway operated by the AFL in NSW/ACT at ages 13 and 14, including club representative programs, academies and state championships, to the stage where he will be invited to be part of the talent program when age 15 to 17. AFL clubs will evaluate talent closely at the AFL talent camp (at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview in 2006), at the State Championships and ultimately at the AFL National Championships. At any stage during this program your son may be offered a scholarship if he meets the criteria as set out in (1) above.

Alternatively, if your son is not part of the local club system he may be invited to AFL talent trials through evidence of his athleticism in another sport. From the talent trials it may be that an AFL club wishes to scholarship list your son and develop him further through the AFL talent program and AFL club development initiatives.

In some instances clubs may identify raw athletic talent and elect to scholarship list your son without any AFL background at all. Once scholarship listed, your son would be invited to join the AFL talent program (developed collaboratively with his sponsor club)

3. What should we consider if multiple clubs are looking to scholarship list my son?

In considering AFL club options, families should evaluate all elements of the club offer including the developmental, environmental, logistical and financial elements of the offer. Ultimately the decision resides with the family. The AFL will reference you to the club resources and website for relevant information.

The signing period, nine months, provides enough time for families to do the necessary due diligence when considering a sponsor club.

4. How much is the scholarship and what can the funding be used for?

A scholarship is valued at between $10,000 and $20,000 per annum. Benefits of that value must accrue to the individual in the form of an educational scholarship and/or cash and/or investment/s in the personal development of the scholarship listed player.

Any incidental costs of travel, accommodation, collateral etc. are costs borne by the AFL club and cannot erode the explicit scholarship value.

5. Does my son need to change schools and/or relocate?

No. Consideration will need to be given however, to the most effective way for your son to partake in the AFL development program without compromising on his schooling. Residing in a remote environment may require you to consider relocating your son. We respect and support that the educational environment is the priority.

In parts of NSW there are selected schools which are more supportive of AFL than others and we are building relationships with a range of schools for families to consider across public and private systems.

6. Which school would you recommend?

We will not recommend schools. However we shall provide you with a reference list of schools to consider. It is the responsibility of each family to weigh up the options based on the information provided by the schools.

7. What does the personal development program as part of the talent program incorporate?

The program is designed to develop each boy’s physical and mental performance as well as focus on AFL skill development.

A contemporary AFL player requires a professional attitude towards his physical and mental preparation. In addition, the technical skill requirements are greater than ever before. The development program is customised to the needs of each individual within an enjoyable and collaborative peer environment.

The talent camp at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview for example, will cover physical testing, goal setting, nutrition, skill development and game sense testing.

The AFL talent program team will work collaboratively with the AFL clubs to ensure an appropriate program is developed for your son.

8. When is my son required to be involved in the program and what travel requirements are there?

Selected players are involved in a series of group training sessions (1-2 per week), camps (1-2 over a duration of 3-4 days) and games (approximately 10) typically spanning the period from December to September each year. This will vary depending on the program age group and is over and above any local club or school based commitments. In addition the AFL sponsor club will typically have 3-4 periods in the year whereby they would like to host their selected players and complement the existing AFL development program.

9. What are the credentials of the people involved in the physical and mental aspects of the development program?

The people responsible for delivering the talent development program are highly credentialed experts in their chosen field and are selected after consideration of the coaching and development needs of the program. We will engage external parties to assist us in the delivery of the program where we can not source those competencies within the AFL organisation.

The AFL has a coaching accreditation program that we ask all of our coaching and development people to undertake.

10. Where in Australia may my son end up if he plays AFL?

The scholarship program encompasses all sixteen AFL clubs. Currently, nine clubs are situated in Melbourne, one in Geelong, two in each of Adelaide and Perth and one club exists in both Brisbane and Sydney. The short answer is that your son, if scholarship listed, may play with one of the sixteen teams located across these six locations.

Under the scholarship program your sponsor club has the explicit right to have first choice, once your son has met age eligibility requirements, to primary list or rookie list your son and, as such, if selected, your son would be required to go to the sponsor club, if he wished to play in the AFL competition.

If the sponsor club does not exercise the right to primary list or rookie list your son prior to the national or rookie draft, your son may wish to nominate for the national draft system in the same way as all other players. In the AFL, the National Draft system is the regulated process by which players are allocated to clubs on a sequential selection basis determined in priority order from the lowest finishing side to the highest.

The club that selects your son, under this system, would then have the right to contract your son for his playing services on the standard terms and conditions that are in place at that time. Currently all first year AFL players are provided with a minimum two year contract with minimum base payments of $39,300 together with $2,200 per senior match and up to $6,000 in additional bonuses based on games played in first year.

11. What happens if we do not feel comfortable with the club who has selected my son?

The National Draft and Rookie Draft are the only process for allocating Australian players who have previously played Australian Rules football amongst clubs. Ordinarily there are no other means for being placed on an AFL club playing list. Clubs, however, are able to trade existing listed players for draft picks or other listed players.

A player can elect to not to accept a scholarship and place himself in the National Draft once he becomes age eligible. However that player will still subject to the ordinary operation of the draft and will not be certain of being selected by his preferred club.

12. What if my son wishes to pull out of the program?

If a player on a scholarship elects to pull out of the program at any stage the player can do so and the scholarship is null and void immediately. Any future financial support will be terminated. However depending on the circumstances of the player leaving the program there may be restrictions placed on him entering into future National and Rookie drafts.

13. What costs might accrue to our family as a result of being part of the Scholarship Program?

There may be some incidental costs eg. spending money associated with travel experiences that accrue however the only specific costs relate to the broader AFL Talent Program in NSW, typically a few hundred dollars.

14. Can my son continue to participate in other sports?

In many instances boys will be required to continue to participate in prescribed school sports.

Often this may be advantageous to the AFL program and provides boys with diversity of sporting experiences, making it fun and enjoyable.

Our counsel would be to continue with other sports, other than in instances where it may be detrimental to your son’s long term welfare.

We will have detailed information on your sons other sporting activities and will be able to evaluate if the work load is becoming excessive.

Has there been any discussion on this program in Adelaide?

The first AFL talent camp was held last week where ALL AFL clubs had their recruiting representatives.

It appears Collingwood will be the first player to secure a player...15 year old Scott Reed.

There are some interesting points:

1. The club and player are free to choose whoever respectively ....there is no draft order.

2. You can offer 1 or 2 players scholarships between now and January next year.

3. Do you sign them up quickly or wait be more selective and scour other sports for potential candidates?

4. Do you sign a 15 year old or an older 17 year old?

5. Westcoast, Sydney and Dockers are also about to announce scholarship signings.

6. Each player signed must be nutured until they get to draft age.

7. Money can and will play a part in securing signatures from potential signees certainly favouring the more financial clubs.

So what is Adelaide doing?

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Carolyn Wilson:

How Swans' NSW zone was blocked

By Caroline Wilson
February 23, 2006

Sydney was prepared to pull out of the draft and recruit the successors to Barry Hall and company from a NSW zone.
Photo: John Donegan

THE Sydney Swans offered to pull out of the AFL draft in a bid to develop the sport in NSW and at the same time bolster their ranks with Sydney-based players.

The bid for an exclusive Sydney zone, which had been approved by Paul Roos and his team of assistants, came on the eve of the club's first premiership season during a meeting initiated by the Swans with AFL chiefs Ron Evans and Andrew Demetriou.

Swans chairman Richard Colless and senior executives Myles Baron-Hay and Andrew Ireland proposed a scenario that would have allowed the Swans to recruit footballers exclusively from NSW.

Ireland said the club would have been prepared to further restrict its zone to Sydney and a limited radius, so desperate was it to make a significant impact upon elite adolescent athletes in Australia's biggest city.

The Swans' offer to remove the club from the draft and create its own zone could have been introduced gradually over a three- to five-year period and the club says it would have been prepared to revert to the AFL's national recruiting scheme had a Sydney-NSW zone proved too great an advantage over time.

The AFL rejected the proposal on several grounds, primarily in its determination to preserve the sanctity of the draft and also because there was a view the move would have disadvantaged the Swans.

"We were prepared as a club to make the ultimate sacrifice," said Roos yesterday. "Obviously we had concerns but if the end result saw the game start consistently providing players from Sydney and NSW then the end result would have been worth it.

"There's a huge sense here that unless we do something really dramatic we will not get a foothold in the market. The premiership has had a great impact and, providing we make the crucial and correct decisions, we can take advantage of that but it's still not necessarily going to happen.

"Exactly the same challenges that have always existed here still exist and the opportunity to capitalise has never been greater." Only one Sydneysider was taken in last year's draft — Dylan Addison to the Western Bulldogs — while none was taken in 2004.

The revelation was met with a relatively negative reaction yesterday from Collingwood. CEO Greg Swann said: "Our gut reaction is it's a zone and we're opposed to zones."

Instead, after significant debate, the Commission launched what has been dubbed the AFL scholarship scheme, which from October this year will mean all 16 AFL clubs must recruit at least one Sydney teenager no younger than 15 and place him on a third list behind its senior and rookie list.

The AFL's NSW general manager Dale Holmes said the zone proposal was rejected largely because of the risk associated with the move.

"The initial discussions were quite left-field," said Holmes, "but when the potential return to the code was measured against the risk it was considered too high risk. But it did prove the genesis to the scholarship scheme."

However, the scheme has drawn a mixed response from the Swans administration, which attempted in vain to convince the AFL that a more radical push into Australia's most competitive market was required.

Roos said: "I don't want this to sound like AFL-bashing but would we have preferred to achieve a different system for the apprenticeships? Yes, we would have. Why limit it two two players? Why wouldn't you make it unlimited?"

The Swans also believe the minimum age requirement of 15 will make it difficult for AFL clubs to attract talented teenagers who may have already chosen their sporting paths.

Interesting developments that will effect the Crows

 

[WaynesWorld19]

First rewards for push north

By Emma Quayle, Sydney
April 30, 2006

Ryan Bottin-Noonan shows AFL talent scouts what he can do.
Photo: Fiona-Lee Quimby

MEET Khan Haretuku. Khan is a 16-year-old who was born and raised in Sydney. His mother is part Scottish, his father part Yugoslavian and part Maori, and they moved to Australia from New Zealand when they were married.

Two years ago, Khan played rugby league every weekend. Then, a friend told him that because he could kick and grab the ball so well, he should try Australian football.

Haretuku had heard of the game, but had never bothered to watch it before. He played some under-15 games games for the Maroubra Saints, on Sydney's southern beaches. He went to the Glebe under 16s, and learnt how to play in the ruck.

Last week, only a few months after playing his first serious game, he was one of more than 300 teenagers to participate in the AFL's first talent camp for NSW/ACT — a living, kicking and handballing 195-centimetre personification of the kid the league is trying to lure from rival sports in the country's most competitive market.

His games were watched by recruiters from all 16 clubs, who would not have been there but for one thing: the scholarships they must offer one or two 15, 16 and 17-year-old kids from greater Sydney from tomorrow until the end of next January.

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Most clubs considered the camp brilliantly run and are enthusiastic about the scheme. But there are concerns: Should it be compulsory? Will clubs having to sell themselves so strongly to players and their families raise hopes? Will the AFL watch how much — outside the $10,000-20,000 the league will provide a player — is used to lure them?

"We'd be happy to get beaten if someone prefers someone else or thinks they'll be developed better somewhere else," said Scott Clayton, the Western Bulldogs recruiting manager. "But we'd be disappointed if if was done on cold hard cash." There are other things to think about, too. Should you dive in and sign a player quickly or wait to see who emerges through the season?

The Magpies will be first in, having all but secured 15-year-old Scott Reed, the standout talent this week before he fell and broke his leg. It was the first of what will be some inevitable bidding wars, the Pies having snatched Reed from Fremantle's grasp.

West Coast, Sydney and the Dockers were the other clubs rumoured to have also made their mind up, but others, such as Hawthorn and St Kilda, want to wait.

"You don't want to get beaten," said St Kilda recruiter John Beveridge. "But if you get in early and sign someone, you might see someone later on and think, 'Gee, we've already spent our biccies'."

Each young player player signed must be nurtured until he reaches draft age, when his sponsor club will have first call at promoting him to the senior list. It means keeping a 15-year-old on the books for three years or a 17-year-old for one season. Hawthorn recruiter Gary Buckenara suspects most clubs will start out with older kids; Collingwood's Derek Hine can see merit in picking younger ones.

The Magpies have marched into Sydney more forcefully than some other clubs, setting up an extensive network headed by former Sydney full-back Rod Carter. "We think it's really exciting," Hine said. "With the draft, you identify a player and, at 18, and that's when you start to develop them.

"Here, you get to identify a player at 15, potentially, and you can work with that player for three years to get them going the way you like. There's some real incentive to go and identify the player because, if you identify the right player now, you've got him for almost nothing. We think it's a great opportunity."

What clubs must also work out is whether there are players they want in the existing talent pool, or if they need to scour other sports. Beveridge thought only about 20 of the 200-plus eligible players on show could go on. Buckenara saw 10 or 15, and suspects none would get a game for a TAC Cup team.

"You might be better off looking at a few rugby games rather than throwing a dart and picking someone for the sake of picking them," he said.

The final question is: will it work? "I think it's worth a go," said Clayton. "It will certainly generate the market over time. Obviously there will be a lot of guys who don't make it, so they'll go back into the local competition. Is that a bad thing? We're going to give it a go."

.....

 

[crowsarethebest]

We can take a 14 year old if we want I think? Thats just stupid because how the heck would you know if he'd still want to play footy and how he would be when he is 17/18.

 

[Crow-mo]

another way, the crap victorian teams without any money will fall further below the line.

this favours the rich (eat the poor) who can afford to speculate on these picks. it all costs money, and will be another example of how the big clubs screw the small clubs behind the scenes.

 

[Cap]

another way, the crap victorian teams without any money will fall further below the line.

this favours the rich (eat the poor) who can afford to speculate on these picks. it all costs money, and will be another example of how the big clubs screw the small clubs behind the scenes.

and the problem for adelaide ?

 

[Crow-mo]

and the problem for adelaide ?

zero obviously.

it just amazes me that supporters of the poorer teams (work harder bitches) don't seem to understand the advantages enjoyed by the richer teams, and all the ways the money benefits them.

they seem to have in their tiny little minds that it's all cyclical, and she'll be right in due course. which seems to be a subversive way of accepting your lot for the moment, rather than face up to the hard decisions.

the above is great for us obviously, but I amazed at the way this sort of thing goes broadly unnoticed.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Collingwood Welcomes First NSW Scholarship Player
Posted May 03, 2006 - 12:51 PM

collingwood Talented youngster, Scott Reed, will become the Magpies’ first scholarship player in a new program that is aimed at attracting the best young talent from NSW to the AFL.


The 15-year-old, who was the stand-out talent among 200 players in last week’s AFL NSW parade, chose to join the Pies, having been courted by several other top AFL clubs.

Reed, who lives in Terrigal, just outside Newcastle, has represented NSW at Under 15 level. He is an elite youth athlete, who cemented his selection in the minds of Collingwood recruiting staff when he excelled while playing for a representative under-15 side carnival in Canberra in 2005.

Collingwood’s National Recruiting Manager, Derek Hine, who has tracked the development of the youngster for over a year, said “we are over the moon with Scott. There is no doubt that he is the absolute stand-out in New South Wales. His leg speed, his size and his agility is great for his age. He works extremely hard in all areas of his game. His development in the last six months has been incredible.

“A few people I’ve talked to think that he’s a natural defender, while I’ve seen some attributes in him that would suggest that he would go in to the midfield quite comfortably, the beauty of this scholarship system is that we are able to develop him over a three-year period in to a number of roles.”

Reed will join former Collingwood defender, Alan Richardson, in the Magpies’ Youth Academy. Richardson, who re-joined the club in the summer to establish Collingwood’s Youth Academy, has been working with Collingwood’s first, second and third year players, on skill acquisition, and personal and professional development.

As part of the scholarship, Reed will travel to Melbourne every month, while continuing his weekly training sessions with former Swans full-back Rod Carter in Sydney. Carter, who recently joined the Pies Youth Development Academy, will oversee all Sydney-based programs, and will assist Richardson in delivering support and coaching north of the boarder.

Scott will be in Melbourne for this weekend’s clash with the Blues, and will put pen to paper on a three-year scholarship with the Pies. The Scholarship program will entitle Collingwood to select Reed as their final draft selection when he attains draftable age.

All very low key stuff as other news dominates all media and chat room discussions BUT BEWARE of the sleeping dog.

This is going to catch a few clubs asleep

 

[bigman]

All very low key stuff as other news dominates all media and chat room discussions BUT BEWARE of the sleeping dog.

This is going to catch a few clubs asleep

WW dont worry - I have it on good authority we are doing our work here.

A lot of time etc has already gone into this programme.

The early bird does not always catch the worm.

 

[Mong]

another way, the crap victorian teams without any money will fall further below the line.

this favours the rich (eat the poor) who can afford to speculate on these picks. it all costs money, and will be another example of how the big clubs screw the small clubs behind the scenes.

For that very reason I was a bit surprised to see that Collingwood were against zones. In theory the more money you can pump into your zone, the better the results will be, and Collingwood have more money than most.

The revelation was met with a relatively negative reaction yesterday from Collingwood. CEO Greg Swann said: "Our gut reaction is it's a zone and we're opposed to zones."

 

[Tas]

another way, the crap victorian teams without any money will fall further below the line.

this favours the rich (eat the poor) who can afford to speculate on these picks. it all costs money, and will be another example of how the big clubs screw the small clubs behind the scenes.

You do realise the AFL is paying for these kids, not the clubs.

"The Sydney club that produced 1996 Premiership player Mark Roberts has provided the Kangaroos with their inaugural NSW AFL Scholarship signing.

James Wilsen, a 16-year-old, 194-centimetre key forward who plays seniors for St George in the Sydney league, first came to the attention of Kangaroos Recruiting Manager Neville Stibbard at the 2005 National under-16 Championships, representing New South Wales/ACT."

Source: http://kangaroos.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=262490

We probably know some of the NSW zones better than the Swans do.

 

[Vader]

Given the low number of draftees taken from this area over the past few years, you'd have to say it's a lottery no matter who gets taken.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Saints sign Sydney youngster

May 6, 2006

ST KILDA has signed a Sydney youngster to a three-year contract under the new scholarship program that requires AFL clubs to recruit emerging talent from NSW and the ACT.

Danny Ryan, a recruiting specialist hired by St Kilda to oversee the program, found 14-year-old Joshua Duncan at Sydney's Pennant Hills Football Club — the club that produced St Kilda star Lenny Hayes.

St Kilda says Ryan saw Duncan play several times and recommended him to the Saints' recruiting manager, John Beveridge. Beveridge watched Duncan play three weeks ago in a trial game and last week at Riverview College, Sydney, as part of the NSW-ACT development program and was impressed.

"Josh is an athletic midfielder, skilled right and left side," Beveridge said. "He is a quality young man from a quality family and there is no doubt that he will apply himself to his ongoing development, both in a football sense as well as a study sense."

The club says Duncan, who turns 15 next month, is 180 centimetres "and has big hands and feet", with his height projection indicating that he may get to 185-188 centimetres. Duncan is also a promising cricketer.

Doesn't this process of choosing juniors at a very young age to "control" their development also apply to soccer?