AFL Multicultural and Indigenous Academies

[Lucifers Hero 37,179]

Interesting article by Caroline Wilson: AFL plan to restructure development of young talent

The idea is each Victorian club is given a region/zone to develop multicultural and indigenous talent.
Carro says: "with draft numbers also dwindling in the Northern Territory it remained unclear which clubs would be aligned to Australia's northern region with Melbourne linked to an academy there in the early planning".
I know it is early days but tbh it doesn't make sense to divide inner Melbourne up between clubs and leave us out and a NT academy will be very expensive to run from a few thousand miles away.

Carro indicates, "Although clubs would not gain special access to recruit players developed in their specified regions, the AFL is considering incentives such as bonus rookie selections via the draft".
As we know from this years 'draft points' trades clubs will quickly learn how to make the most of a system.
Given there already are a lot of indigenous and multicultural players in Victoria it will be interesting to see how the AFL ensures those players still get to the draft. For example if St Kilda identified Christian Salem early could they steer him to their 'multicultural academy' path, take him as a rookie rather than the national draft path?

I hope the AFL irons this stuff out early because Carro says it is "a move that has been viewed as a precursor to the return of club-branded development zones". If future draft zones do eventuate along the preliminary lines I would be worried for us if our zone was NT without a Vic zone as well. After all some 70% of draft players are from Victoria. Time will tell.

I'm sure Peter Jackson would be in there batting for us. Maybe he can push for the Bayside area of Melbourne and inner/middle south/south east eg the area we have been targeting as our 'heartland' to be our Vic zones.

[daisycutter 28,612]

i suppose the afl will also come up with a new definition of a multicultural player

[Lucifers Hero 37,179]

i suppose the afl will also come up with a new definition of a multicultural player

Now that would be worth seeing!!.

The last person to try something like that was Matt Randell when he was quoted as saying something about recruiting players with one non-indigenous parent and look what happened to him.

I'm not sure whether the AFL Mngt/Commissioners have stepped out of leafy Toorak but the last time I looked in my equally leafy bayside area, schools are multicultural with children of 2nd/3rd generation immigrants. We need look no further than son on SOS in the draft this year. Again, it raises the question: would the Blues steer him down a 'multicultural academy' path or let him go into the national draft?

I wish the AFL well trying to define what is a 'multicultural' or 'indigenous' player.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Lucifer's Hero

[Whispering_Jack 28,010]

Melbourne got a bum wrap when country zones were introduced in the late 1960s. At the time the zones were supposed to be rotated every few years but clubs like Carlton, Richmond and North which were run by some smart operators and also had the most productive zones managed to keep them. Our own zone produced very little and we were stuck with it for 20 years, leaving us in the lurch.

I hope that if this plan comes into being that we stand up for ourselves to ensure that we can retain a competive edge in recruiting.

[Redleg 37,809]

i suppose the afl will also come up with a new definition of a multicultural player

A multicultural player is a player who wants to play for a top team.

[Biffen 12,348]

Is Max Gawn a multicultural ambassador?

After all,New Zealand could nearly be considered another country in its own right.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,523]

This plan stinks!

The AFL spoke some platitudes about equalisation a couple of years back (even asking for submissions from each club) and formed an equalisation committee/taskforce including Eddie McGuire, Andrew Newbold, Peter Gordon (token) and Gary March. The outcome? The biggest issue apparently wasn't revenue distribution, favoured fixturing, stadium agreements or the disparity in FD spending between rich and poor clubs. No, the big issue needing to be addressed was Sydney's COLA allowance and the northern club academies. So instead of real equalisation measures that could help achieve a form of parity in the competition we get the new draft bidding system and this reintroduction of zoning. Zoning, remember, was phased out for the draft as an equalisation measure in the first place! And if you think this won't lead to clubs having first dibs on players you're off with the fairies.

If the AFL wants to address the issue they should be taking ownership of the academies themselves rather than leaving it in the hands off self interested parochial clubs. Most clubs have had some issue or another managing themselves competently over the last 20-30 years so why does the AFL leave the development of the game in their hands? Why doesn't the AFL manage the academies ensuring a consistent approach and no favouritism to one club over another? The AFL remember is not only the administrator of the competition but also the custodian of the game, something they usurped from the ANFC when the VFL expanded and swallowed the other states up. So in their role as custodian it is their responsibility to develop the game and expand into different communities - instead we get this ridiculous proposal which has only come about because the likes of Collingwood & Hawthorn have hijacked the equalisation debate and made sure no true measures that would impact their clubs can be implemented.

The AFL and the other clubs are of course spineless and refuse to do anything about this. I have been saying for a long time the smaller clubs need to form a bloc and lobby the AFL on issues such as fixturing, stadium arrangements and other inequalities in the competition. Not just Melbourne, North, Footscray and Saints but include Geelong (who at least under their current administration is aligned with us on this) and others such as Port and Brisbane. That's 7 of the 18 clubs and more than enough to get the AFL's ear.

[rjay 23,932]

Say no to zones...

[rpfc 27,543]

I know there is some love for Zones to come back, even on here, but this will only bring in pre-teenage pushing of families and kids and, if that wasn't a driver in-and-of-itself, it will hurt the game and the equalisation of the game.

[Lucifers Hero 37,179]

The AFL has announced its funding plans for academies, effectively club 'zones'. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-02-03/vic-clubs-handed-funding-for-academies

The article says: "The clubs were consulted in the past 12 months and are understood to have accepted the allocation in general terms".  Suitably vague making it hard to tell if clubs agreed or not! 

The zone allocations are:

Western Bulldogs – Western Melbourne, Wimmera, Mallee, South West Victoria, Ballarat, (North Ballarat Rebels & Western Jets)

Essendon – North West Melbourne (Calder Cannons), West Arnhem (NT)

Melbourne – South East Melbourne (Dandenong Stingrays), Alice Springs (NT)

Collingwood – Central Melbourne (Oakleigh Chargers), Barkly (NT)

St Kilda – Inner Southern Melbourne (Sandringham Dragons), Frankston LGA

North Melbourne – Melbourne and Wyndham LGAs (Calder Cannons & Western Jets)

Hawthorn – Eastern/Whitehorse LGAs (Eastern Ranges), Gippsland (Gippsland Power), Katherine (NT)

Carlton – Northern Melbourne (Northern Knights)

Geelong – Geelong /Hampden (Geelong Falcons), East Arnhem (NT)

Richmond – Goulburn Murray, Bendigo, Sunraysia, North Central (Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers)

I don't now why Vic 'power' clubs get so much of NT - yes I know it is big, but we are the ones that invested our team and games there and have built the relationships. 

Even having Dandenong Stingrays worries me (as a fan base) because Hawthorn will soon be moving to the neighbouring suburb of Dingley.  They get Eastern Ranges and Gippsland Power and our bit of Dandenong Stingrays turf is hemmed in the middle.  At face value that doesn't look very fair, especially if in time these zones bring 'academy draft bidding rights' with them

No clues in the article how they were allocated!  In light of recent decisions it could be the AFL looking after its 'pet' clubs and everyone else picks up the scraps.  I would prefer we had a clear run at a zone rather than a team - hard to build an identity with a team, easier to do with a geographic zone.  The allocations look a bit of a hotch-potch and not zones at all.  Can't feel too enthused about our allocation (or lack of).

[Gipsy Danger 1,067]

I'm starting to think that if enough people forget/ignore Tasmania, that it may just go away

[Lucifers Hero 37,179]

7 minutes ago, Hellfish said:

I'm starting to think that if enough people forget/ignore Tasmania, that it may just go away

Good point!  An AFL oversight?

Hawthorn or North may yet claim it!

[DeeSpencer 23,237]

It's a stupid idea, but if we can get the Sudanese and other immigrant communities in Dandenong plus Indigenous talent from Alice Springs we could find some good footballers. 

What I'm worried about is when SA and WA divide the entire Indigenous population over there between them.

Imagine the 2 WA teams sharing Franklin, Ryder, the Jetta's, the Hill's, the Bennell's, Jack Martin and so on.

Indigenous status is relatively easy to establish, but the multicultural aspect is going to be difficult.

Every second Australian has a distant relative born somewhere. What counts? 

Is is just the African and Middle Eastern new arrivals? What about Eastern European, Pacific Islander, Asian?  It's going to be a dogs breakfast of eligibility. 

Then there's the issue of players moving zones.

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

Why do academies need to be linked to a club? Am I missing something? Doesn't the funding come from the AFL?

[daisycutter 28,612]

55 minutes ago, Choke said:

Why do academies need to be linked to a club? Am I missing something? Doesn't the funding come from the AFL?

just more gillom nonsense at this stage

[monoccular 16,208]

Was this dreamed up by Gil - or perhaps the all to obviously underutilized integrity department - as a distraction from their ongoing pandering to those found guilty by CAS of drug cheating?

As Hellfish so correctly points out, did their map of Australia stop at the Wilson's Prom lighthouse?   OMG they are dumber than I thought  

How much input did they take from the "minor clubs" as opposed to the "important ones"?  

I would be interested in Peter Jackson's thoughts. 

[SaberFang 7,141]

It's actually mindboggling how mindbogglingly idiotic this all is.

Mindboggling.

[Lucifers Hero 37,179]

A bizarre thing about this is that there are 5 clubs in the NT which means they will be duplicating their time and resources up there.  Not very good use of AFL funds to my mind.  Not only that we are up there competing with clubs who have buckets of money to splash around up there. 

I can't see us getting any leverage or benefit up there.

[rjay 23,932]

Would Pettraca have been in the Hawks multicultural academy?

Indigenous I kind of get, but what is the qualification for multicultural?

I can see this thing having more holes than swiss cheese...

[daisycutter 28,612]

34 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

A bizarre thing about this is that there are 5 clubs in the NT which means they will be duplicating their time and resources up there.  Not very good use of AFL funds to my mind.  Not only that we are up there competing with clubs who have buckets of money to splash around up there. 

I can't see us getting any leverage or benefit up there.

could be funny when the indigenous boys go walkabout with club officials manning the borders and pouncing

[Sir Why You Little 34,615]

All very strange. So these are the extra chips we use on draft night...

[Return to Glory 7,748]

For mine, there's an obvious issue. Some clubs will clearly have access to growth corridors and the corresponding increase in population, young families and talent. I.e. We have Dandy and South East region but the big boon in footy club (sport in general) participation around that way has been around Pakenham and throughout Gippsland, Hawthorn's marker. Perhaps I misunderstand....possible

Edited February 3, 2016 by Return to Glory

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

We can't complain really.  They've given us the areas the club has already invested fairly heavily in.

I wonder if this is where Cowan is going to be involved with her new development position? 

[DeeSpencer 23,237]

3 hours ago, Return to Glory said:

For mine, there's an obvious issue. Some clubs will clearly have access to growth corridors and the corresponding increase in population, young families and talent. I.e. We have Dandy and South East region but the big boon in footy club (sport in general) participation around that way has been around Pakenham and throughout Gippsland, Hawthorn's marker. Perhaps I misunderstand....possible

Those places might be where all the kids are going, but what matters it the kids eligible. Asian and African migrant kids are probably still going to be in the same spots.

If limited to Indigenous, Asian and African then if you look across the AFL it's:

Maybe 10 or so Indigenous Victorian kids: Goodes the best but has since retired. JKH, Christensen, Jarman Impey, Jake Neade Koby Stevens, Eddie Betts, Andrew Walker, Paul Ahern. 

NT Indigenous players: Cyril Rioli (Tiwi), Steve Motlop (Darwin?), Nakia Cockatoo (Darwin?), Jake Long (tiwi ?where he grew up), Jed Anderson (Katherine), Curtly Hampton (Alice Springs), Steve May (Darwin)

Asian: Lin Jong?

African: Majak Daw, Gach Nyuon

Once the club resources go in these numbers could boom, but as of right now I don't think anyone has really been given a treasure trove. 

Alice Springs represents a huge opportunity to nurture Indigenous talent and our zone in the SE of Melbourne should include a heap of African and Asian kids. Exactly what resources and how we should implement them I have no idea.

[Mach5 4,482]

12 hours ago, rjay said:

Would Pettraca have been in the Hawks multicultural academy?

Indigenous I kind of get, but what is the qualification for multicultural?

I can see this thing having more holes than swiss cheese...

 

Would Salem have been classed a multicultural preselection? The mind boggles.