EOIs Open for Central West Representative Coach Positions
AFL Central West are excited to announce that all representative coaching positions have been made vacant and are now open to community nominations.
In 2023, the representative program wasn’t delivered to the standard expected, with a major factor being the movement of league staff into new roles. The competition structure is now in place, and with providing opportunities to play a high standard of football of utmost priority for the league, representative football is back on the radar.
Although not delivered to an appropriate standard, the Youth Girls side still made the trek to Nowra for the Shoalhaven Carnival, defeating Sapphire Coast in one of their matches. Injuries to many players caused their campaign to finish early.
Caitlin Ruuskanen, Regional Coordinator spoke to the significance of representative football in building a pathway for regional players to access high quality footballing opportunities. “We know there is a group of talented players in the Central West’s GIANTS Development Squad. We also know that there are as many, if not more equally talented kids who are not able to commit to that program, who we need to provide high quality opportunities for. Representative football provides this chance for our talented players to showcase their skills and we want to see our sides return to where they were pre-covid.”
“We have begun working on a plan to better structure representative football in 2024. We are confident that early announcements of coaches, pre-season training programs, and a clear plan for everyone to work from is key to a successful pathway.”
Representative coaching positions for all roles are open now and will close on Sunday January 21. Applications can be made by completing the coaching form here. Whilst there is still some uncertainty around the status of senior representative football, the intent is to get the senior sides a game.
In addition to the coaching roles, AFL Central West have created a Representative Coordinator position, to assist with the delivery of the representative program for 2024. The role will act as a link between AFL Central West staff and coaches/parents, freeing up staff to receive communication from one person, and ensuring that important elements of representative football are still being delivered once the season begins.
Volunteers play a critical part of every sporting club, and AFL Central West have decided that some additional support will allow representative football to thrive. To apply for the Representative Coordinator role, complete the application form here.
The recruitment of the representative teams will begin during pre-season, in early April, with teams to be announced in early May. Representative Football is currently scheduled for the weekend of 6/7 July in Nowra.
