Registrations open for 2024 AFL Central West Season 

With the off-season in full-swing, AFL Central West clubs have begun opening their registrations for the upcoming 2024 season. After a season of success for several clubs, the Bathurst GIANTS will go into the men’s Tier 1 competition as reigning premiers for the first time, whilst Dubbo Demons will have the target on their back for the first time since 2018. 

The competition wasn’t without its challenges in 2023, both on-field in the junior divisions and off-field from a staffing perspective. To help alleviate the on-field challenges, new Development Coordinator Will Flynn is in the process of coordinating a full year of school programs and competitions. Will joined AFL Central West in June 2023, and has spent the past two school terms getting to know the program space, supporting Auskick coordinators, and delivering some very successful programs particularly in Bathurst and Orange.  

He is now tasked with supporting the recruitment strategy for each club as AFL Central West finally look to embed Under-10s into the community football structure for the first time. ‘10s is a crucial transition pathway into junior football, with many Auskickers looking for something more engaging as they turn 8 or above. The league are still working on how the competition will be established, but after a few false starts during 2022-23, the time is right to introduce the new age group.  

New Regional Coordinator Caitlin Ruuskanen joins the league’s football operations team from AFL Canberra and brings a wealth of experience as well as a valuable knowledge of regional footy hailing from Broken Hill. She will share her time across AFL Central West and AFL Sapphire Coast, providing excellent support to the clubs, and supporting the professional delivery of the competition. The structural change has occurred to ensure the community football contacts are reachable throughout business hours, and can focus purely on the competition, as opposed to programs and operations.  

 In joining the team, Ruuskanen shared her enthusiasm to get started, and has already began making an impression after meeting the clubs online a few weeks ago. “After two seasons coordinating AFL in Canberra I am excited to bring my experience over to AFL Central West. Through my time growing up and playing sport in Broken Hill, I have gained a good understanding of the challenges regional sports face. This experience has given me a great drive to want to give the regional clubs and participants the extra support they need. I see so much potential, talent and passion in the Central West and cannot wait to see what we, alongside the club representatives, create for season 2024.”  

The Senior competition will begin on April 27, whilst the juniors will kick off the following Sunday, to avoid the awkwardly placed school holidays. A change from 2023 will be one round of junior matches in the July school holidays, as we aim to complete the junior season prior to the influx of Grand Finals during late-August and early-September. By doing this, it allows the competition staff to all be in attendance on Grand Final Day, maximising support and delivering the best possible experience for the participants.   

Excitingly for the competition, Triple M Central West will continue their partnership with AFL Central West Juniors, ensuring the competition is supported by increased on-air promotion for Triple M listeners. The league continues to search for major partners for the senior competitions and representative teams. To enquire about these partnerships, contact Caitlin via email at caitlin.ruuskanen@afl.com.au.  

There’s no better time to sign up and play AFL, so click here and search for your club to access their registration form.  

Player registrations opening also mean umpiring registrations are also open. New umpires are encouraged to express interest via the form here and returning umpires can login to their Officials HQ account, to complete the registration process. All registered umpires will go in the draw to win fortnightly prizes between now and Round 1.