General Updates
Key Updates
BFNL
Senior Football
16/8/25 -Anglesea vs Queenscliff - 2:10pm
A Grade Netball
16/8/25 - Modewarre vs Portarlington - 1:50pm
GFNL
Senior Football
16/8/25 - St Mary's vs South Barwon - 2:10pm
A Grade Netball
16/8/25 - Colac vs Geelong West - 1:50pm
CDFNL
Senior Football
16/8/25 - Colac Imperials vs Lorne - 2:15pm
Reminders
AFL Barwon is excited to seek nominations for the 2025 AFL Barwon Community Awards.
The event has incorporated the historic AFL Barwon Coaches Awards with the additions of Community Netball Coaching, Club Administrator Awards, and both Football and Netball umpiring awards.
To nominate a Club Administrator, Football or Netball Coach, Personality of the Year or Club Trainer, simply answer the questions below associated with the specific award.
Nominations can be made by any member of the community and is open to all AFL Barwon Affiliated Clubs, Associations and Leagues (GFNL, BFNL, CDFNL, GDFNL, Female Football, Junior Football & Netball, and All Abilities FNL).
We are currently following up on a few outstanding submissions to for this year’s award across all Senior Male and Female Football, and A Grade Netball competitions.
To maintain the integrity of the results and ensure players across all clubs are recognised appropriately, we kindly remind all coaches to submit their votes if they haven't already.
These votes provide a valuable opportunity for coaches to acknowledge standout performances, both from within their own teams and from the opposition.
At this stage, we are holding off on publicly releasing the leaderboards to ensure all data is complete and accurate.
If you have any questions or require assistance with submitting your votes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
AFL Barwon is seeking Expressions of Interest from all affiliated clubs across the GFNL, BFNL, CDFNL and GDFNL for a pre-season Senior Netball Tournament, tentatively scheduled for a weekend in late March 2026.
This tournament-style event will provide an exciting opportunity for clubs to fine-tune their squads ahead of the season, test combinations, and enjoy competitive match play in a fun and structured environment.
Further details, including the confirmed date, format, and venue(s), will be shared in the coming months.
If your club is interested in participating, please submit your EOI below
AFL Nines registrations at Belmont Common are now open for 2025! The competition is designed for adults including Mens, Mixed and Womens.
The fun and friendly competition will run for 8 weeks.
Dates: Monday, October 20th - December 8th Times: 5:30pm - 9:00pm depending on fixture Location: Belmont Common, Belmont
Commercial Partnerships
Geelong Cats are excited to extend an exclusive ticketing offer to Junior Footy Clubs for this weekend’s Round 1 match of the 2025 NAB AFLW Season, Geelong v North Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium with a special discounted rate of $5 Adult General Admission tickets. Kids under 18 have FREE entry.
Football
Female Football
AFL Barwon is excited to announce the fixtures for the 2025 Female Football Finals across the Epworth Cup and Kings Cup competitions. The finals series will feature the region’s most talented female footballers, with teams from Under 14 through to Senior level competing for premiership honours.
Matches will be played across multiple venues, commencing with Under 18 Friday night fixtures before a full day of finals action on Sunday.
Entry is free to all matches, providing an excellent opportunity for the community to support female football.
Senior Female Division 1 Epworth Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
Geelong Ammos v Grovedale – Ray Menzies Oval, 1:30pm
St Mary’s v Thomson – Osborne Park, 1:30pm
Senior Female Division 2 Epworth Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
Geelong West Giants v South Barwon – Hamlyn Park, 1:30pm
Drysdale Hawks v Newtown & Chilwell – Osborne Park, 11:30am
Under 18 Female Epworth Cup
Friday 15 August 2025
Torquay Scott v Ocean Grove King – Anthony Costa Oval, 5:30pm
St Joseph’s v Bell Park Giants – Anthony Costa Oval, 7:15pm
Under 16 Female Division 1 Epworth Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
Geelong Ammos Williams v Ocean Grove Beaton – Ray Menzies Oval, 11:45am
Peninsula Sharks Whities v St Mary’s – Ray Menzies Oval, 8:30am
Under 16 Female Division 2 Kings Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
St Joseph’s v Bell Park Dragons – Hamlyn Park, 10:00am
South Barwon Matthewson v Surf Coast Suns Zeally – Hamlyn Park, 11:45am
Under 14 Female Division 1 Epworth Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
Torquay Bennett v St Mary’s Garing – Osborne Park, 10:00am
Peninsula Sharks Bulls v Ocean Grove Tisdale – Ray Menzies Oval, 10:15am
Under 14 Female Division 2 Kings Cup
Sunday 17 August 2025
Torquay Woodruff v Ammos Joeys Scoullar – Osborne Park, 8:30am
Bell Park v Surf Coast Suns Fishos – Hamlyn Park, 8:30am
Resource Links
Football Umpiring
AFL Victoria, together with our partnering umpiring groups, invites all WGG players, umpires, family, and friends to come and experience umpiring in a fun, supportive environment.
Program Highlights:
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Practical skills sessions
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Information on how to register as an umpire
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Opportunity to umpire AFLW Auskick grid games
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Whistles for all new participants
When & Where:
Drysdale Sports Precinct, Belchers Rd, Drysdale
Thursday 4, 11, & 18 September
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Come along, learn new skills, and be part of the game from a whole new perspective!
Netball
General Netball
Any identified clashes must be communicated to AFL Barwon (
This means you must contact AFL Barwon ASAP if :
- you are playing Saturday in week 1 of Bellarine and lose, which will mean you are playing on the Sunday the following week, OR
- you know your netball game will be on the Sunday already due to ladder positions
The name of both FOOTBALL AND NETBALL Teams, and the names of players impacted should be emailed to the list above for consideration.
i.e. AFL 14U Girls clash with Barwon Netball 17U Div 1 (9:35am scheduled) – Players impacted – Sophie Allison, Maddie Okely.
Whilst we will endeavour to address these clashes, we cannot guarantee all can be accommodated.
Any emails received from Monday morning onwards are unlikely to be accommodated.
Netball Victoria
Intermediate coach course – Sunday 31 August
Another date has been locked in for an Intermediate coach course, full day, face-to-face workshop at State Netball Centre - the perfect way for coaches to consolidate their learnings across the season and increase their knowledge and accreditation.
Places are limited and some prerequisites apply. Please share with your coaches.
Netball Victoria is commissioning an independent review of its current player, coach and umpire pathways (from grassroots to high performance) and the coaching and umpiring workforce strategies.
BFNL & GFNL Netball
As the season draws to a close, it is now time for clubs to begin compiling their ACTUAL Player Payment Spend for the 2025 season. This reporting is due four weeks after your clubs final A Grade game.
As was required at the start of season for your budgets, clubs must complete the ACTUALS SPREADSHEET (linked) reflecting all payments made to A Grade players. This is part of your compliance requirements under the Allowable Player Payments Policies.
If you require support, please reach out to
All resources, including the recording of the session at the beginning of the year, are available via the Netball Resources page on the AFL Barwon Website.
In an attempt to reduce the amount of paper used through finals, as well as reduce the number of tasks required by clubs on match day, there have been some changes to the processes for finals, which will be included with other finals information when distributed, but I wanted to highlight here.
Bench Officials – TEMPLATE AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD
A spreadsheet will be sent to all clubs to complete, nominating who their team bench officials will be for the finals series. We understand many teams will have a stable bench, so needing to provide this each week is not always necessary.
However, if there is a change to your submitted list – then no worries, please pop to the competition office, or email the AFL Barwon team through the week, and we can update this for you. Only those named on our lists will be permitted to sit on the bench.
Due to
Starting Positions
While team selections will still be required by Wednesday of each week to enable us to type up position tracking sheets with qualified players, starting positions/line ups will be required to be selected in PlayHQ by 6pm the day before match day.
Again – if there are changes to this post this time, this can be communicated at the competition office.
All teams will still be required to ‘check in’ at the competition office, to run their names over their lists, and ensure all players are listed. From there, umpires will bring the paperwork to the score bench, for the independent scorer and check scorers.
Please be reminded that all players must be in correct uniform. Correct uniform includes:
- Playing dress or approved alternate uniform
- Netball shorts/briefs
Socks (as nominated by your club – see page 181 of AFL Barwon Handbook)
Junior Netball
11&U Party Round is scheduled for 24th August at Kardinia Park.
An email has been sent out to clubs with a link to submit their application to be involved. Please have this submitted no later than 15th August.
The theme this year is crazy socks and posters!
A reminder as we approach finals that the correct uniform must be worn to take the court.
Clubs can choose the 3 best players for media votes by writing 3, 2, 1 on the scoresheet next to the player you wish to award votes to.
3- best on court
2- second best on court
1- third best on court
Coaching applications are now live AFL Barwon’s 2026 Representative Netball program. Please see the link below to submit your interest.
AFL Barwon are looking for a team of selectors to assist in the rep trials.
For more information, please contact Caitlyn at
BFNL and GFNL Junior Netball Award nominations are now open! Below is a summary of all awards available to vote on.
DOW Primary Education Award (BFNL Only)
The purpose of this award is to encourage and support the further education, and development in the sport of netball, of a Primary age player within an affiliated Club.
Criteria:
· Age and status i.e. must have completed year 6 at Primary School and entering year 7 the following year
· Club orientation i.e. Contribution to the ideals / practices of the Club
· Self-motivation e.g. Attitude to training, participation in available courses
· Evidence of good sportsmanship
· Talent, and the likelihood of a significant future in netball
· The need for assistance toward the costs of secondary education.
DOW Tertiary Scholarship (BFNL Only)
Dow Australia Pty Ltd has been a valued sponsor of the Bellarine Football Netball League since 1987.
The purpose of this award is to encourage and support the further education, and development in the field of science of a junior age player towards their chosen professional career.
Criteria:
- Age and status i.e. must be a year 12 student entering University in the following year
· Evidence of good leadership
· Self-motivation e.g. Attitude to training, participation in available courses
· The need for assistance toward the costs of higher education
· Must have ambitions of a future in one of the following careers: Science / Engineering OR Business / Commerce
Junior Coach Encouragement Award (BFNL & GFNL)
The Purpose of this award is to encourage, develop and support a young, aspiring coach.
Criteria:
▪ Hold a current Coaching Accreditation
▪ Hold a current pass in the Rules of Netball theory exam
▪ Needs to be the nominated Coach for a team, not an Assistant.
▪ Be of Junior age: Up to and including 19/Under.
▪ Be a financial member of a club affiliated with AFL Barwon.
▪ Be a financial member of Netball Victoria.
▪ Display the qualities of a good Coach (Arrives early to meet and greet players, Dresses appropriately, Keeps players interested and active during training and warm-up sessions, Can demonstrate and encourage correct skills and apply appropriate fault correction, Gives constructive feedback during training and matches.
Junior Umpire Encouragement Award (BFNL & GFNL)
The purpose of the award is to encourage, develop and support young trainee / badged umpires who are members of a Club affiliated with the Bellarine Football Netball League.
Criteria:
- Completion Foundation umpire course and the rules of netball theory exam prior to or during the year of the award.
- The ability to umpire matches completely unsupervised.
- Willingness to umpire as and when requested by their Club, to dress appropriately, and to act responsibly as an umpire.
Please see the below links for to submit your nominations.
BFNL:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1D7rusd1loBRu52rm0haevqdHVMRk5HOCjKIijz4AQ1Y/edit
GFNL:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dlGhI3dq1M7byrwTJsOJU2Bjio_JWkdcSwOCYf-WS78/edit
All Abilities Netball
The 2025 All Abilities Netball Grand Final showcased the talent and spirit of our inclusive competition, with Geelong West Giants securing a 28–1 victory over Newcomb.
Congratulations to Cody King on taking out the best on Court.
AFL Barwon extends its congratulations to all participating clubs, players, coaches, officials, and volunteers for their dedication throughout the season. The commitment, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm demonstrated across the year have been a credit to the All Abilities program and the broader football and netball community.
CDFNL Netball
It’s the time of year where we ask clubs to please provide the names of their 7 nominated scorers and timekeepers for finals.
These can be submitted via the following form: https://forms.gle/zhtrDadfkny3v45M8
Please do so by August 18th
As the final 5 begin to become clearer, we are also in a position to start collecting your bench officials for finals.
These can be submitted via the following form: https://forms.gle/ZDuGiVNJGCDUqz7j9
Skip any teams for which you do not need to submit officials for. If your team is a possibility of making finals, please complete the form.
Please complete this form by August 24th.
