News

AFL Barwon, in extensive consultation with the impacted member clubs and their key stakeholders, have made changes to the AFL Barwon Female Football Day of play for the 2024 season.

The Epworth Senior Female and Under 19’s Female Football Competition’s will be played primarily on Friday nights. The fixturing of Friday night matches will be only at venues that have lighting that meet the required safety standards to host matches. There are only 5 of the current 17 Senior Female & Under 19’s clubs do not have adequate lighting facilities which will see most matches played on Friday nights. For club’s with sufficient lights to play night home games, doubleheader fixturing will be made possible. For any clubs that do not have adequate lighting, they will still play home games on Sunday's, unless alternative fixtures have been agreed upon. Clubs have been encouraged to consult and collaborate with other clubs if games need to be moved from the Friday night or Sunday timeslots for any significant reasoning.

The basis of these changes has been formulated to ensure that female participation continues to trend positively across the Barwon Region. With the implementation of the Fair Access Policy in 2025, AFL Barwon believes this modelling is a critical element in preparing for these policy changes. Female participation in the Barwon Region in 2023 had a rise of 17% across all competitions.

Throughout the consultation process, a consistent theme emerged indicating a strong desire for increased club connection among female players and officials. There was a notable interest in providing them with the opportunity to participate in club social events. The changes should also help to strengthen the connection between the Under 19 and Senior sections of the Female Football Clubs.  

There are no changes to the scheduling or day of play for any other junior female competitions in 2024. 

All fixtures for Female Football competitions will be released in the lead up to the 2024 season.

Click here for the 2024 season dates for all Female Football competitions.

AFL Barwon is excited to release to our clubs, players, officials, and supporters the dates for the 2024 season.

The traditional Easter start date for the Bellarine FNL will continue in 2024, with a great opportunity for holiday makers to the region to get along and watch some Football and Netball.

The Dow Bellarine FNL Finals Series will kick off on August 17^th, with the Grand Final being played on September 7^th.

The Geelong Football Netball League will kick off on the weekend of Saturday April 13^th next season. The 2024 season will see some regular Sunday football netball matches in the Geelong FNL. The Grand Final Day for the Geelong FNL has been pushed back from its usual Saturday prior to the AFL Grand Final date to the AFL Grand Final Public Holiday in 2024. This will be an excellent showcase opportunity for the footballers and netballers in the region.

The full competition fixture start dates, byes, and finals series dates for all our competitions can be found below.

Bellarine Football Netball League

Round 1: Weekend of Friday March 29^th

Byes: Weekend of Saturday May 11^th and Saturday July 6^th

Dow Bellarine FNL Finals Series Commences: Saturday August 17^th

Dow Bellarine FNL Grand Final Day: Saturday September 7^th

Geelong Football Netball League

Round 1: Weekend of Saturday April 13^th

Byes: Weekend of Saturday May 25^th and Saturday July 6^th

Split Round: Weekend of Saturday August 3^rd and Weekend of Saturday August 10^th

Geelong FNL Finals Commence: Saturday September 7^th

Geelong FNL Grand Final Day: Friday September 27^th

AFL Barwon Under 18’s Male

Round 1: Weekend of Saturday April 13^th

Byes: Weekend of Saturday May 25^th and Saturday July 6^th

Split Round (Div 3. Only): Saturday July 27^th and Saturday August 10^th

Finals Series Commences:

• Div 1: Saturday September 7^th
• Div 2: August 17^th
• Div 3: August 24^th

Grand Final Day’s:

• Div 1: Friday September 27^th
• Div 2: Saturday September 7^th
• Div 3: Saturday September 14^th

AFL Barwon Female Football (Senior & Under 19)

Round 1: Weekend of Friday April 5^th

Byes: Weekend of Friday May 3^rd and Friday July 5^th

Epworth Female Football Finals Series Commences: Weekend of Friday August 9^th

Epworth Female Football Grand Final Day: Weekend of Friday August 23^rd

AFL Barwon Female Football (All Junior excluding Under 9 Girls)

Round 1: Weekend of Sunday April 14^th

Byes: Weekend of Sunday July 7^th

Epworth Female Football Finals Series Commences: Weekend of Sunday August 11^th

Epworth Female Football Grand Final Day: Sunday August 25^th

AFL Barwon Female Football (Under 9 Girls)

Round 1: Weekend of Friday August 2^nd

Last Round: Weekend of Friday September 13^th

AFL Barwon Junior Football

Round 1: Weekend of Friday April 19^th  

Byes: Weekend of Friday July 5^th

Kempe Junior Football Finals Series Commences: Weekend of Saturday August 17^th

Kempe Junior Football Grand Final Day: Weekend Saturday of August 31^st

AFL Barwon Junior Netball

Round 1: Tuesday Night Competitions April 16^th. Friday Night Competitions April 19^th

Byes: Tuesday Night Competitions July 2^nd and July 9^th. Friday Night Competitions May 10th July 5^th

Tuesday Night Competitions Last Round: Tuesday August 20^th

Kempe Junior Netball Finals Series Commences: Friday August 16^th

Kempe Junior Netball Grand Final Day: Friday September 6^th

AFL Barwon All-Abilities FNL

Round 1: TBC

Byes: TBC

Finals Series Commences: TBC

Grand Final Day: TBC

*Waiting on the confirmation of the FIDA fixture.

Colac & District FNL

Round 1: Weekend of Saturday April 6th

Byes: Weekend of Saturday July 6^th

Split Rounds:

• Weekend of Saturday April 27^th and Weekend of Saturday May 4^th
• Weekend of Saturday August 3^rd and Weekend of Saturday August 10^th

Colac & District FNL Finals Series Commences: Saturday of August 31^st

Colac & District FNL Grand Final Day: Saturday September 21^st

Colac Otway Junior Football

Round 1: Weekend of Friday April 26^th

Last Round: Weekend of Friday June 28^th