$500,000 boost for academy program

THE AFL will pump an extra $500,000 a year into a revamped, expanded academy program in a bid to increase the elite talent pool and entice more cross-code stars.

As questions continue to be raised about the depth of talent and skill level of players in the AFL, the league yesterday announced changes that will see it nurture an extra 90 elite juniors a year across the country through the NAB AFL Academy Program.

The expansion comes after a 12-month review of the talent development pathway, with the academy currently catering for just 60 players in a centralised national program.

The new structure, to begin next year, will instead see the creation of five talent hubs comprising of Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia, Western Australia and the Allies, which takes in all the other states and territories.

There will be 30 players involved in each hub — 10 bottom-age and 20 top-age players.

Overseas training camps have been scrapped in favour of three domestic camps per hub, including one cultural experience to a location such as Tiwi Islands, while the best 25 players in each age group will still come together for a high-performance “All Australian” camp.

The AFL says the changes will help create more “AFLready” players on the back of more specialised coaching and will allow them to lure and develop more cross-code athletes.

AFL general manager of football Steve Hocking said while the AFL Academy had been a “flagship development program for more than two decades”, it was time for a shake-up.

“We are now in a position to expand the program and expose more young footballers to elite coaching and skill development as we prepare them for the rigours of AFL football,” Hocking said.

The current program costs the AFL about $1.2 million a year, with extra money to be spent on coaching, high performance and wellbeing pushing that figure above $1.7 million in the new plan.