VAFA Football Advisory Groups

Football Operations Team

VAFA Football Operations has continued to work with their Football Advisory Groups over the past few months. There are now four Advisory Groups meeting on a near-monthly basis, with progress updates on two groups provided below. Information from the Premier Sections Football and Divisional Sections Football Advisory Groups will be provided in the near future.

Under 19 Football Advisory Group  

The Under 19 Football Advisory Group comprises David Elam (Old Melburnians), Geoff Carr (Peninsula), Peter McKenzie (Mazenond), Jeremy Dickson (Old Carey), Lachlan McKinnon (MHSOB), Con Terzoglou (Williamstown CYMS), Josh Galbraith (De La Salle) and Matt Collister (VAFA).

This Advisory Group played a proactive role in determining the 2021 Under 19 Over-Age Player Policy which was released to clubs on 7 October.

Current items on the Agenda include analysing Under 19 Finals Eligibility criteria, how best to improve the quality and integrity of the Under 19 fixturing and grading process and what additional support can be provided to clubs to ensure they can field an Under 19 side in 2021.

Women’s Football Advisory Group  

The Women’s Football Advisory Group comprises Ian Hill (Old Scotch), Geoff Koop (Emmaus St Leos), Frankie Freeman (North Brunswick AFC), Chelsea Fisher (Caulfield Grammarians), Tim Habel (UHS-VU), Alex Mackenzie (Old Camberwell), Annabel Brebner (MCCFC), Beth Cook (West Brunswick AFC), Steven McMahon (Therry Penola), Tom Purcell (St Kevins), Sam Waldron (Hawthorn AFC), Ella Stephenson (Monash Blues), Sam Confait (VAFA) and Matt Collister (VAFA).

This Advisory Group is now working in five smaller groups to collaborate and determine some key recommendations and strategies to improve certain aspects of women’s football in the VAFA based on results from the Women’s Football Player Survey, which was distributed to all registered players from the 2019 season.

These areas consist of umpiring, coaching, on-field congestion, football-related gender imbalances and at-risk women’s football clubs impacted by COVID-19.