Thanks to all those who were in attendance at the BFNL, GFNL & AFL Barwon Annual General Meetings that were held on Wednesday 27^th November at Buckleys Entertainment Centre.

As a follow-up to the recent email, please remember to submit your club's completed Standard Chart of Accounts and 2024 Annual Report, including financials, within 14 days of your club’s Annual General Meeting. 

These documents should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as per AFL Barwon By Laws. If you’ve already sent these, thank you; if not, please ensure submission to avoid any penalties. 

Player Registrations commenced on the 1st of October allowing Clubs to register new or returning participants earlier should they wish to, noting that the decision on when to open these registrations remains at the discretion of your Club. 

November Player Transfer Period will be reintroduced in 2024 allowing for Player Transfer Requests to be lodged between 1 November and 30 November. 

Clubs setting up a registration form 

Please ensure that you are making your registration form visible understanding some clubs will hide their registration form if you are, for example, at capacity or offering registration initially to previous participants before making it visible. 

Rego fee set >$0.  

There is a great opportunity for players aged 13–17 to stay active and have some fun during the off-season in the AFL Barwon Geelong AFL Nines Youth Competition.

Please share this information with your players and families to encourage their participation. It’s a fantastic way to keep them connected with footy and having fun with their peers.  

What is AFL Nines? 
AFL Nines is a modified version of Australian Football that’s designed for fun, fitness, and inclusion. It’s non-contact, played with smaller teams, and perfect for players of all abilities. This competition offers a relaxed and social environment, ideal for young players to enjoy footy without the intensity of the regular season. 

Event Details: 

• When: Thursday 12th December 
• Time: 4:00pm - 8:00pm
• Location: Belmont Common
• Cost: FREE 
• Contact: Tim Downes, AFL Victoria – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Registration details: 

• Register a team: Click here to register your team 
• Register as an individual: Click here to register individually 

ATT: Netball Directors and Coordinators 

In season 2025, it has been determined that a 19&U Division 2 Competition be facilitated on Friday evenings, alongside our established 13&U, 15&U and 17&U Midweek Competitions.  

Friday nights have been determined as the best option for the immediate future, when taking into consideration feedback received across the board. This will continue to be reviewed in line with competition growth in the coming seasons. 

With many clubs currently completing trials, please be informed of this offering, and inform your members. 

ATT: Netball Directors, Coordinators, Treasurers 

Thank you to all clubs who have provided feedback on the proposed competition rule and by-law changes. This information will now be collated and provided to the AFL Barwon Operations Sub-Committee for review and subsequent approval.  

Outcomes will be communicated post this meeting as soon as reasonably possible. 

ATT: Club Coordinators and Junior Athletes 

Over the last three weeks, we saw over 270 athletes at trials for the AFL Barwon Representative Program across Bellarine and Geelong Teams.  

With both high attendance and quality, final selections have since been made, with all those who were successful having received offers earlier this week. 

Unsuccessful emails have also been distributed. If you participated in the AFL Barwon Representative Program and are yet to hear, please reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

We’d like to thank all athletes for their attendance over this period, and we hope to see you all back trialling next year. 

An additional thank you to the selectors and umpires who supported the program over this time. 

ATT: Netball Directors and Umpire Coordinators 

Netball Victoria have recently piloted a ‘Netball Respect: Green Band Initiative’ program to address ongoing challenges faced by young umpires in the netball community. An initiative whereby umpires under the age of 18 are easily identifiable by wearing a green wristband while on court. 

The aim of the program was designed to help create a safer, more supportive environment by ensuring players, coaches and spectators can easily identify umpires under the age of 18, many of whom are still learning their craft. 

All umpires deserve respect and fair treatment, however it’s those under 18 that are particularly vulnerable and require added protection under the Child Safe Standards.  

Netball Victoria and AFL Barwon remains committed to supporting our community to stamp out poor behaviour from spectators, players or coaches. 

This is a mandatory program and will need to be adhered to for season 2025. More information around this is still to come.

ATT: Netball Administrators

Updated information is needed in Netball Connect.

Keeping this information updated helps us maintain effective communication and better support your needs. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to reach out. 

Please take a moment to review your association/league/club's details in Netball Connect and complete the following: 

1. Remove any personnel who are no longer involved with your organisation. 
2. Specify the roles for all contacts listed to ensure clarity. 
3. Verify that all contact details are correct and current.  

You can do this in the Netball Connect User Module -> Administrators -> Our Organisation -> Contacts 

Helpful resources: 

https://netballvic.tawk.help/article/contacts 

https://netballvic.tawk.help/article/adding-new-administrators 

ATT: Club Umpire Coordinators and Umpires 

Spray Jacket ordering winder is opening this weekend! Get your oders in this side of Christmas to ensure they are ready for dispatch prior to the season commencing

Umpire Jackets – CLICK HERE

The jackets will be available every order window 1-7th of each month from October – June of each year. 

Next order window is Dec 1st – 7th 

Umpire T-Shirts

Stock for this item is held more regularly, so orders can be placed at any time. 

T-Shirts: Click here

 Umpire Shorts & Skirts

Stock for this item is held more regularly, so orders can be placed at any time. 

Shorts: Click here 
Skirts: Click here

In recent weeks, the AFL communicated to all umpires and umpire coaches nationally the 2025 Umpire Education Module requirements. 

The Umpire Education Module serves as an important aspect delivered by the AFL to provide continuous improvement and professional development to all umpire and umpire coaches across Australia.  

Most notably, all umpires and umpire coaches will initially be marked as 'unavailable' for appointments within OfficialsHQ. Completion of the educational module via the AFL LMS will automatically update your availability status in OfficialsHQ to ‘available’, allowing you to be considered for match appointments. Umpires will only become eligible for match appointments upon finishing the education module. 

We kindly request that you complete the Umpire Education Module as soon as possible to allow us to appoint you to matches once the season commences.   

If you require support to complete the education module, a user guide with step-by-step instructions is available here. 

If you have questions about the module content, please reach out to our team at AFL Barwon Umpiring (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or for technical assistance please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or you can watch the how-to videos. 

Win 1 of 3, $50 VISA vouchers simply by re-registering (current umpires) or registering (new umpires) for 2025 and completing the 2025 Umpire Education Module in the AFL LMS by Monday December 16th 

We will be conducting a lucky registration draw on December 18, 2024. Winners will be notified and if unable to collect from Highton Office by Friday 20th December will be posted to your registered address in OHQ. 

** To register, log into your OHQ account and you will be directed to create an AFL ID and link to your OHQ Account or if you already have an AFL ID account link it to your OHQ account. 

This will give you a single sign in to all your AFL accounts and direct access to the LMS for all your umpire and coaching courses. 

2025 Training Commencement: 

• AFL Barwon Geelong Umpires – from 5.30pm, Monday 3rd Feb. 2025 at Kardinia Park, then each Monday and Wednesday excluding Public Holidays 
• AFL Barwon Colac Umpires – from 5.45pm, Wednesday 5th Feb. 2025 at Lake Oval Colac, then each Wednesday excluding Public Holidays. 
• Practice Matches – from late Feb. 2025 (all umpires must be registered and have completed 2025 Umpire Education Module to be appointed) 

2025 Season Commencement: 

• BFNL, GDFNL, CDFNL – Saturday 5th April (CDFNL stand alone games 29th March) 
• GFNL, AFLBW Senior and U18W – Saturday 12th April
• U18 Boys, AFLBJ U16/14 Boys/girls – Saturday 26th April 
• AFLB All Abilities – Possibly 3rd or 10th May 

Mid-season Break:

• Monday 7th and Wednesday 9th July (leading into the General Bye and week 1 of GDFNL split round) - No AFL Barwon Umpire Training Colac and Geelong 

 All competitions (excluding GDFNL - Bye) play on Kings Birthday weekend. 

All Senior Men’s and Women’s competitions and U18 female have 2 Bye weekends 

CDFNL competitions have 3 bye weekends. 

U18 Boys and Junior boys and Girl’s competitions have 1 Bye weekend (12th July) 

There will be a much greater presence of Senior Female Football playing on Saturdays under the LGA’s Fair Access Policies, fixtures are yet to be determined at this time. 

Applications are now open for the Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund (RCSIF) and the 2024-25 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSIF) to help local footy clubs and communities plan, design and build the sport facilities they need. 

The program is designed to help regional communities plan and build, including upgrade existing facilities for women and girls, community facilities, all abilities infrastructure and planning to encourage more people to get involved.

Close: 17 March 2025

Local footy clubs across the country can apply for Telstra Footy Country Grants, a partnership between the AFL and Telstra that will deliver $2m per year for a four-year period to community football.

Wanting to make changes to City-owned community assets?  Submit a proposal for works to enhance or upgrade one of our facilities. 
 
Proposed works include anything that might potentially be fixed to an asset or ground, for example: sports lights, facility or pavilion, sporting infrastructure, turf management etc. 
 
The proposal for works must be approved before the commencement of any project.