The AFL Barwon team will be enjoying a break over the Christmas period, with the office closed from 5pm Friday 20th December and re-opening on Monday 13th January.

Pleasee note - during this time, the Barwon Bulletin will have no editions published.

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.  

We are aware of the eagerness by clubs and stakeholders to receieve an update on the fixtures in a bid to plan for the 2025 season.

The 2025 Bellarine FNL and Geelong FNL fixtures are planned to be released prior to the AFL Barwon office closing on December 20th.  

Clubs will be advised if there is any further update on the status of either of these fixtures.

ATT: Netball Directors, Coordinators, Treasurers

REQUIREMENT - Netball Connect LINKS READY TO BE CREATED

A reminder that all players and coaches must be registered in BOTH PlayHQ and Netball Connect prior to the commencment of the winter season.  

All Netball Connect Registration Forms are now open and able to be completed by your club. 

All forms will be accessible under your league profile (BFNL, GFNL or GDFNL), including the form for AFL Barwon Midweek Competitions. 

Netball Victoria Membership is compulsory for any player, coach or umpire, who intends to partake in AFL Barwon Competitions in season 2025. 

Players who have registered for Summer and already have a 2025 membership, will still need to register to their respective winter competition to link their membership, but will not be charged again. 

Instructions on how to set up your Netball Connect forms can be found HERE.

 PlayHQ forms are already open to be completed. A How To Guide can be found HERE. 

ATT: Netball Directors and Coordinators 

All Coaches 

Please be reminded that all coaches must have a current Foundations Coaching Accreditation as a minimum standard.  

Foundation Coaching is an online course and does not take long to complete. Instructions on how to enrol can be found HERE

A Grade Coaches  

Must have a current development level Coaching Accreditation as a minimum standard. This requires previous completion of the Foundation Coaching Course, and is then partially online, and has a face-to-face component. 

Information on how to enrol in the Development Accreditation can be found HERE. 

Practical Component Dates will be listed HERE. 

For more information on the Coaching Pathway, you visit Netball Victoria’s “How to Become a Coach” site. 

ATT: Netball Directors and Coordinators  

As we prepare for 2025, we are asking clubs to please review their currently approved uniform as per the attached uniform register.  

All players must be adorned in uniform as per what is listed in this register, so it is important that all clubs review and amend any records that are required.  

Any player who is not in appropriate uniform can be removed from the court. 

Please review and provide this feedback by January 24th 2025 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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. 

If you are able to confirm post trials, whether your club will be entering a 19&U Division 2 team, please do so via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Total Team Points and Player Payment Limits 

Please see below the allowed player payments and total team points limits for season 2025. 

With many clubs in the process of signing new players, please be reminded of the requirements your clubs are bound by. 

All reporting documentation can be found HERE 

This includes: 

• Standard player declarations, which all players who receive funds must sign and be submitted to AFL Barwon. 

• Non-declated player statements, which all players who play A Grade and do not receive payment, must sign, and be submitted to AFL Barwon. 

• Excel Budget/Actuals Reporting template 

• Player Points System and PPSP By-Laws (NOW ONE DOCUMENT, replacing previously two separate files) 

• Player Payment Rule 

• Player Payment Guidelines 

If you require further support in this space, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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. 

On the 06/12/2024 a AFL Barwon Child Safeguarding email update, which included a survey, was sent to Presidents & Secretaries of all Clubs asking where you see your club at in relation to Child Safeguarding obligations & compliance.

Just a gentle reminder that we require a response by the 31/01/2025. Thank you. 

Youth mental health education opportunity. 

Ahead of the Game is a free program for players (12 years-18 years), their parents and coaches. Funded by Movember and partnering with the AFL, Ahead of the Game has delivered 1000+ sessions and reached 18,000+ young players nationally in 2024.

Ahead of the Game provides young players with the tools to deal with life’s challenges, and the confidence to support their mates through tough times, whilst also empowering them to look after their own mental wellbeing.

The program has been designed to have localised Delivery Partners come to community clubs to deliver at a time that suits during the season. 

Further information and to register your interest found here - https://play.afl/movember-ahead-game 

The list of funding and grant programs designed to help Victorian community football expanded this week with the Victorian Government announcing two new opportunities for local clubs. 

 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. 

There are a number of funding programs available to support local football clubs, leagues and families across Victoria. Below is a summary of programs currently open and available. Find out whether any of these programs could apply to your club or family.  

Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund (RCSIF) 

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. 

More information here

Telstra Footy Country Grants 

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. 

More information here.

Please contact Tim Secombe (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) with any questions regarding the above information.