The Certificate in the Business of Australian Football has been designed to support sports industry professionals, sports students and former players to enhance their understanding of the multidisciplinary business of AFL and AFLW.
The program has been developed to allow delegates to establish a theoretical and practical understanding of AFL recruiting, list management, football operations and football department leadership, with the goal of applying this knowledge across a variety of roles and contexts within the AFL and AFLW.
The on campus version of the course will be taught over two days at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The next dates for this course are currently TBC.
The course is also available to study in a self-paced online format.
If you are interested in this program but would like further information before you register, please email us at profed@gis.sport.
Modules
Learn what makes an effective AFL recruiter. This session will include essential AFL recruiting topics such as recruiting structures, process, talent pathways, player analysis, decision making and selection.
Learn how to oversee a list management team. This session will include a detailed understanding of list management structures, list management process, list analysis and managing salary caps.
Learn how to manage a football department’s operations. This session will include an overview of the role of General Manager of Football, organisational structures and individual roles and responsibilities, operational requirements and match day roles.
Learn how to oversee a football department. This session will include a strategic approach to football department leadership, football department strategy, club governance, relationship management and future thinking.
- Introduction to List Management (Role of the List Manager)
- List and Recruiting Structure - List Management (Exercise)
Fundamentals of List Management
- Strategy and Governance
- List Strategy Impacts - List Management (Exercise)
- Drafting-Needs v Talent
- Total Player Payments
Skills required to be a List Manager
- Trade Criteria and Checklist
- List Analysis
- Player Contracting
- Negotiation Skills
- Future thinking - List Management (Exercise)
- Career as a List Manager
- Introduction to List Management (Role of the List Manager)
- Fundamentals of List Management
- (Strategy and Governance
- Skills required to be a List Manager
- Trade Criteria and Checklist
- List Analysis
- Player Contracting
- Negotiation Skills
- Introduction to Football Management
Fundamentals of Football Management
- Football Strategy
- List Management
- High Performance and Medical Programs
- Coaching
- Football Operations
- Wellbeing Program
- AFLW
- Integrity and Risk Management
- Program Integration - Football Management (Exercise)
- Skills required to be a Football Manager
Performance Indicators
- Management
- Understanding & managing an AFL Soft Cap
- Working with the Media
- Media Messaging
- Overcoming Challenges
- Introduction to being a Player Agent
Fundamentals of a Player Agent
- Rules and Regulations
- CBA
- Recruiting Process
- List Management
- Total Player Payments
Skills required to be a Player Agent
- Acquiring Talent
- Trade Period Understanding
- Negotiation Skills
- Career as a Player Agent
The course provided the opportunity to hear from two veterans of the industry in an open forum that prompted conversation and discussion. And as a result, I now have a much clearer view of football operations and overall list management.
Tutors
The tutors listed below are for the on campus version of this course, the online version is delivered by Apogee Sports.
Brad Lloyd - Guest Presenter and Head of Football at Carlton FC
Brad played football at Hawthorn FC from 1997 to 1999 and was captain of VFL club Williamstown from 2000 to 2006, including a Premiership in 2003. He worked as an AFL player agent for Elite Sports Properties from 2001 to 2008, looking after the agency’s AFL clients.
Brad joined Fremantle FC in 2008 in the role of National Recruiting Manager, responsible for the club's National, Preseason and Rookie drafts. At the end of 2008, Brad was appointed to the senior management team as General Manager – List Management. In 2018, Brad joined Carlton FC as Head of Football, leading the football department at the historic club.
Neil Balme – Guest Presenter and Senior Club Advisor at Richmond FC
Neil is one of the all-time football administration greats, winning the Premiership three times at both Geelong FC and Richmond FC as head of the football department.
After a long playing career which included a decade at Richmond FC and a stint as a coach with Melbourne FC, Neil became the Football Operations Manager at Collingwood FC in 1998. Neil found early success, with Collingwood FC reaching two consecutive Grand Finals, before moving to Geelong FC in 2007. Neil went on to win three Premierships with Geelong FC before taking on the General Manager of Football role at Richmond FC where he has won another three Premierships to date.
Geoff Walsh – Guest Presenter and former General Manager of Football at Collingwood FC, North Melbourne FC, Melbourne FC and St Kilda FC
Geoff is one of the most experienced administrators in AFL history having served Australian football for 36 years and sharing four premierships, 10 grand finals and 25 finals series.
Geoff started his career with Fitzroy FC in 1985 before joining Carlton FC as Recruiting Manager the following year. Geoff joined North Melbourne FC as General Manager of Football in 1994 and served for five years as the club’s Chief Executive from 2002. Geoff was twice General Manager of Football at Collingwood FC from 2006 to 2013 and 2017 to 2020 with a stint heading up the football department of North Melbourne FC in between.
Please note, the guest presenters on this course are subject to change depending on their availability.
Course delivery
On campus
Delegates will attend two consecutive full day in-person study sessions at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The next dates for this course are currently TBC.
In addition to the in-person sessions, delegates will also have access to supporting materials.
Delegates will be provided group activities throughout the course and asked to complete a feedback and learning assessment survey upon completion.
Online
Delegates on the online version of the course will have access to a self-paced online learning course which can be studied in your own time.
There are 70+ lessons across 4 modules covering Recruiting, List Management, Football Management and Player Agents. Throughout each module delegates will undertake exercises before an assessment and key learning reflection at the end of the module.
Fees
UCFB's Global Institute of Sport is a global business with its base in the UK, so we currently charge for our products in UK sterling (£ GBP) whilst we refine some of our multi-currency setup. We plan to introduce other currencies (starting with $ AUD) soon.
Sometimes when £ GBP is converted into your local currency it may fluctuate depending on the current exchange rate, so this can mean there's some variation in what you are charged. This exchange rate is set by your local provider and sometimes a transaction fee may be added as well.
