Junior Representative | Northern Football Netball League

The NFNL Junior Representative Development Program is a program providing selected high standard level NFNL Junior players the opportunity to develop their football skills, training ethics and off-field skills while representing the NFNL in the annual AFL Victoria Metro Junior Development Series.

The NFNL will again field representative teams in the Under 14 Boys, Under 15 Boys and Under 15 Girls competitions in the 2023 AFL Victoria Metro Junior Development Series in June. The competition puts metro leagues against each other across the King’s Birthday long weekend.

Principles

• Ensuring an even, fair and accessible try out system is in place for all club nominated players, recognising additional player physical and skill development occurs during off season
• Ensuring a fair, consistent and equitable selection of players process is in place through an NFNL determined and appointed Player Selection Panels.
• Ensuring finalisation of final selected players is done in a fair but timely manner to maximise program development period of selected players in that competition year.
• To provide selected players a balanced development program with a focus on both on and off field.
• Development of players in a high excellence training program including education focus on off field development areas.

Try Outs – Club player nomination process and dates

• All 2022 junior clubs have been notified that nominations of their players to receive invitations to attend the 2023 NFNL Junior Representative try outs in February are to be submitted to the league by 7 December, 2022.
• Clubs will have the opportunity in late January 2023 to adjust nominated players only in the event a player has transferred to their club from another league and/or NFNL club in early 2023 for next season.
• Clubs in this process are requested to be realistic and ensure they are ONLY nominating players that are of a very high playing standard and development level. This will ensure your club juniors and their parents are not wasting their own time and then not being exposed to disappointment in being cut immediately. Remembering the final squad of NFNL players will be competing against the best standard players from other leagues.
• The NFNL at their discretion will determine which players receive invitations to the try out after review of all club nominated players per age group.
• The try outs to be selected in the program will be held on both Sunday 26 February and Sunday 5 March 2023. Venue TBA
• Post the try outs phase, the selected players in the final squad and program are required to attend a weekly training and development session commencing in March 2023. The focus of the program is on development, education and training of current high calibre NFNL Junior players in the Under 14 and 15 boys competitions and Under 15 Girls.

NOTING THAT IN 2023 FOR THE NFNL REPRESENTATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TRY OUTS:

• ALL players will need to be nominated by their respective clubs to try out and earn their spot in the program at the try out dates;
• Previous season divisional B&F Top 10 players and/or 2022 NFNL representative players will NOT automatically progress into the second stage in 2023. ALL players must be nominated by their club and then try out.

Process of Selection of Final Squad Players

• NFNL determined final invitees in each age group will be invited to the try outs which will be held on both Sunday 26 February and Sunday 5 March 2023. Venue & Times TBA
• Post the try outs completion, the appointed NFNL Junior Representative Player Selection panels for each age group will determine all player selections for final squads of 48 players.
• The selected final squad of 48 players in each age group, will then train and in a timely manner be put into final A and B teams by the appointed NFNL Junior Representative Player Selection Panels to allow for best development in team cohesion, education of match game day plans in the lead up to the AFL Victoria MJDS inter league series in June. (24 players per team)

NFNL Behavioural Standards

• Selected persons at all times must be aligned to outlined behavioural standards set out by the NFNL on and off field through that competition year at club and representative level. Persons may be removed from the program at the discretion of the NFNL and replaced for any league determined breaches.

Program Fees

• The NFNL has a set fee each year for selected players which covers the costs of the players representative team uniforms and other areas of the program. Clubs are issued an invoice for this fee per selected player at the conclusion of the program, in which it is for the determination of each club and at their total discretion if this cost is then passed onto parents for their child.