In 2024 School Sport Victoria (SSV), in partnership with AFL Victoria, delivered an expanded program of Gala Days for Australian Football using the 9v9 format, culminating with a State Championships held at Latrobe University (Bundoora) on Wednesday, 27 November. The day was action packed with a high standard of footy with Marymede Catholic College (MCC) and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Chelsea (SJC) taking out the inaugural State Championships in the girls' and boys' competitions, respectively.
MCC Primary House and Sports Leader, Anna Williams said: "This year our girls won the inaugural state championship. It was an incredible honour to be the first school ever to win it. The girls had an absolute blast and loved the new format. I think it suited their type of play with the smaller field and modified rules. They were able to get their hands on the ball a lot more and goals were scored at both ends with a lot more ease. They were able to showcase their skills, learn new tactics and had an absolute blast in the process. Marymede will be back to give it another crack next year."
SJC Teacher, Steve Edkins said: "The whole format was exciting and fun. The boys loved being able to constantly be in attack mode the moment they got the ball. This made the game fast and allowed each player to be involved in most of the plays. We look forward to continuing with the new format in 2025."
The State Championships followed the delivery of an extended competition program in 2024, with 239 teams from 147 schools participating across 16 division events in the new format. SSV CEO Jamie Parsons said: "The State Championships was a wonderful event with all the schools and students having a great day. Importantly, the students enjoyed themselves, developed their footy skills and adapted positively to the rule modifications of the new format."
In 2025, the adoption of the format with modifications to the rules will become the official SSV Primary School Australian Football format for all games from district level through to the State Championships.
SSV and AFL Victoria are creating education resources, including videos and classroom lesson plans to support the roll out. These resources are to support the continued upskilling of the SSV school community and coordinators with the new format. AFL Victoria will provide 8 equipment kits to each SSV Region Coordinator and 4 equipment kits to each SSV Division Coordinator. These kits include balls, cones, and goal posts. There will also be the opportunity for Victorian primary schools to apply for additional goal posts with further information provided in the new year. AFL Victoria will provide on ground support where available along with professional development opportunities.
AFL Victoria CEO, Greg Madigan, said: "AFL Victoria is delighted to be working with SSV to make Australian Football as accessible as possible through modified rules. The slight changes are designed to provide a better student experience for all participants, including seeing more touches of footy, more goals, and with players constantly involved in the game. It also enables more students and schools, including multiple teams from schools, to experience SSV primary school footy.
"We look forward to working with and investing in the SSV school community and coordinators to provide students with the best experience possible to assist with their enjoyment and lifelong connection to footy."
SSV and AFL Vic will share further information on the 2025 competition in Term 1.
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In 2024 School Sport Victoria (SSV), in partnership with AFL Victoria, delivered an expanded program of Gala Days for Australian Football using the 9v9 format.
