Please note that the AFL Barwon Office will be closed from 1pm Friday December 19 until Monday January 12th.
The Barwon Bulletin will transition to a fortnightly schedule starting from the next edition.
It will return to a weekly content cycle in early February.
If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please contact
AFL Barwon is seeking the 2026 Club contacts from all Bellarine FNL, Geelong FNL, Geelong & District FNL, Colac & District FNL, and Female and Junior Only clubs.
We are keen to ensure that we are correctly communicating with the right people at club’s so that any important information is getting through, including the Barwon Bulletin.
It is noted that some positions may not be filled yet however, clubs can resubmit the form multiple times for any specific position and do not have to enter all club positions each time.
We would appreciate if all information relevant to your club, was submitted by COB February 1st.
The form link can be found below.
If you have any issues with this form, please don't hesitate to contact Sean Atkinson (
Firstly congratulations on all of our volunteers for your individual contributions to season 2025. As you are well and truly aware Club Volunteers are the glue that keeps our Clubs together, without them our clubs just would not function. You know that you’re one of them!
Given our season has completed and our attention now turns to planning, volunteer recruitment and Club promotion, I thought it would be timely to take the opportunity to remind you that there is a dedicated resource which will support you with completing these tasks. Take a look around this page as it is packed full of very useful tools & resources to support your clubs found here https://play.afl/learning-resources/clubhelp
Tim Secombe
AFL Barwon Club Development Lead
0417 665 173
In the lead up to the 2026 season, we’d like to remind all new and returning coaches of the following key requirements:
✔ All coaches must be registered in CoachAFL for the 2026 season.
✔ Mandatory online modules must be completed before coaching begins (minimum accreditation requirements will be shown upon login).
Further information on registering, accessing modules, or updating accreditation can be found HERE we encourage you to ensure your CoachAFL profile is active and up to date.
AFL Barwon are pleased to invite (Foundation - Level 1 coaches) to the AFL Victoria Elevate Coaching Practices Program (formerly the Level 2 Coaching Course), designed to support coaches at youth level and above wanting to further develop their coaching capability and deepen their understanding of modern coaching methods.
The program will be held at:
📍 AFL Barwon Headquarters
204 Roslyn Road, Highton, Geelong.
🗓 Sunday 8 February 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 4:00pm
This workshop will provide practical learning opportunities, modern coaching methodology, and development aligned to the evolving needs of community football. Whether you’re continuing your coaching journey or stepping into a new age group or role, this is a valuable professional development opportunity.
To enrol in this wonderful free coach development opportunity please click this LINK noting that only those who are registered coaches in 2025 or 2026 are able to login and enrol to this elevate coaching course.
Please refer any queries to:
Tim Secombe
AFL Barwon
Club Development Lead
For all questions or correspondence relating to football operations until after the festive season, please email
The operations team will respond to emails at the earliest convenance.
The AFL Victoria Handbook stipulates that Player Transfer Requests may be lodged between 12:01am (AEST) on 1 November and 11:59pm (AEST) 30 November in the calendar year preceding the relevant season, or between 12:01am (AEST) on 1 February and 11:59pm (AEST) 30 June in the calendar year of the relevant season.
Just a reminder that football registrations opened on the 01/11/2025. Just some reminders in relation to Play HQ registrations.
Clubs are asked to ensure that their registration forms are set up on Play HQ and to remind all players to complete their Play HQ registrations when the time is right.
In addition, please ensure that you are making your registration form visible, understanding some clubs will hide their registration form if you are, for example, at capacity or offering registration initially to previous participants before making it visible.
Rego fee set >$0.
To support this dedicated competition and clubs in fielding a side, AFL Victoria are offering funding incentives to support the start up of these teams, please see attached flyer for more information.
We are seeking expressions of interest from clubs who may be interested in fielding an Under 9 Girls team in 2026.
To assist our planning, please provide complete the below form and submit accordingly.
Please submit your response by 12th December so we can finalise competition modelling and share further details with clubs.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity further, feel free to reach out to
Be in early before COB 15th December and be in the draw to win 1 of 3 $100 gift vouchers, a great way to cover some Christmas shopping!
Thank you to all that have already re-registered for 2026, you’re in the draw already!
Returning Umpires: League and Club Aligned.
There is no mandatory course you need to complete for 2026, and you will be immediately available for any formal appointment including any practice matches. (likely to begin mid/late February 2026).
*If known – you can set your availability at any time (you will see in OHQ it is now labeled “My availability”)
All new Umpires League and Club aligned will be required to create an OHQ Account and an AFL ID linked, simply follow the prompts and email verifications sent to you.
(If you already have an AFL ID (player or football coach), ensure you use the same email used for AFL ID when creating a new OHQ account and if creating a new AFL ID that you use the same email as your OHQ account)
All new umpires will need to complete the AFL Umpire Foundation Course before you can be formally appointed to any match. You can complete this via OHQ and “Connected Accounts” see the resource page and video How to Access Umpire Courses
For enquiries about becoming an umpire
Here are some 2026 Umpire induction videos for you to see
These are also available on the AFL Barwon Website where you will find more information about umpiring in the AFL Barwon Region.
All person’s aged 18 or over who umpire either as a league or club aligned umpire, will need to have a current and valid WWC (VIC) – Volunteer or legislated exemption in 2026.
Please update your WWC profile adding AFL Barwon as an Organisation, if not already done so.
Please use the AFL Barwon Practice Match Umpire Booking form to request umpires for any upcoming practice matches.
Visit here and select form under Umpire Forms
Request will be pending umpire availability
As we prepare for the 2026 season, Loco would like to provide an update on timelines for ordering new playing jumpers, dresses, playing shorts, and other garments.
In 2026, Chinese New Year falls in mid-February, an occurrence that happens only once every ten years. During this period, our manufacturing partners will close for approximately two weeks, which will place added pressure on production and delivery schedules leading into the season.
To ensure all required apparel is delivered ahead of Round 1, we kindly ask that any retail or on-field orders for 2026are submitted before the end of this year, or no later than the end of January 2026.
This will help Loco guarantee timelines and have your items ready in plenty of time for the season start.