Fundamental changes to WAFL zoning incoming as WA football battles with lower AFL funding

WA Football and the State Government are locked in ongoing discussions over funding as the 10-year anniversary of the code’s shift to Optus Stadium looms. The then WA Football Commission secured a 50-year funding deal with the government in 2017, which included five 10-year terms. It replaced a 99-year lease at Subiaco Oval with the new deal guaranteeing about $10.8 million in annual, CPI-indexed funding, which is now believed to sit at around $14 million. The money funds the WAFL and junior and grassroots football at all levels across the State. There is scope for negotiation over the funding linked to stadium revenue and costs as talks continue between WA Football and the Minister for Sport Lisa Saffioti. Callahan said he was “optimistic” the two parties would “successfully” navigate the contract review. “When football was based at Subiaco Oval, the revenue generated from the use of Subiaco Oval contributed substantially to the funding of community football,” Callahan said. “When football surrendered the 99-year lease on Subiaco Oval to have football played at Optus Stadium, the State contracted to compensate for the revenue forgone so community football would remain funded. “That contract is reviewed every 10 years and we are in the final stages of going through that process now. “Our Minister for Sport and Treasurer is a great advocate for community sport including football and we are optimistic that we will successfully navigate the contract review.” SLIDING ROYALTIES WA Football is reviewing another major source of income, the royalties from the two WA AFL clubs, which have dipped since COVID. West Coast’s contribution has been on a steady decline, falling from $3.8 million in 2021 to $1.78m in 2024, with a further decrease expected. Fremantle’s portion has fluctuated, from $1.91m in 2021 to $2.2m in 2022, with decreases over the past two seasons, from $1.84m in 2023 to $1.23m in 2024. “Unlike anywhere else in Australia, the AFL licences for our two AFL clubs are owned by WA Football and the clubs pay an annul royalty which is then used to contribute to the funding of community football across the State,” Callahan said. “Unfortunately, since COVID the unpredictability of royalty payments has increased and the quantum paid has decreased as our AFL clubs grapple with a variety of financial an performance challenges. “WA Football will be seeking to review the current royalty arrangements over the next couple of months to both simplify the arrangements and provide a more predictable annual outcome.” LOOKING FOR A NEW HQ The governing body of football in WA is expected to shift to a new headquarters, with the slated redevelopment of Gloucester Park the front-runner. WA Football has been housed at Tuart Hill since 2019 which Callahan said would continue for the “forseeable future as we look for a permanent home”. “We are looking at various options, but as you can imagine, anything to do with property projects at this time has its challenges,” Callahan said. “We are, however, very keen to be a cornerstone participant in government initiatives to help revitalise areas of Perth and to continue the creation of more vibrant and engaging communities that we are becoming accustomed to across Perth.” INDIGENOUS GROWTH Indigneous numbers are down in the AFL and AFLW, from a high of 109 players in 2020 to 80 this season. WA Football has bucked the odds, with registrations holding at a tick under 12 per cent as the organisation reaches the halfway mark of its five-year Kimberley Investment Framework, a $5 million dollar partnership with the the State Government and the AFL. But Callahan says the want to grow, not stabilise in areas such as the Kimberley. WA Football counts among its success stories a retrofit of gender-neutral changerooms in Broome and the creation of custom-built equipment trailers to support volunteer capacity. Starkick and All Abilities Football programs have been introduced for the first time in the region, making football accessible to even more Kimberley locals. The Kimberley, which has a population of more than 34,000, is the breeding ground of several current AFL players including premiership duo Callum Ah Chee (Brisbane) and Joel Hamling (Sydney), Jack Martin (Geelong), Liam Henry (St Kilda) and Bailey Banfield (Fremantle), as well as former AFLW player and current WAFLW star Krstel Petrevski. The region boasts football programs that span from Bidyadanga Community to Wyndham Community, covering more than 1,168km between them and connecting 659 Auskick participants and 3,670 School Football program participants collectively in over 25 locations, including 20 remote Aboriginal communities. Youth competitions have also been reignited post-COVID and flooding in places such as Fitzroy Crossing. “So registrations for indigenous people in Western Australia are still running at just less than 12 per cent which is a remarkable statistic given the population and the northern parts of Australia are important part of that. But it’s not growing,” Callahan said. “So the Kimberley project has an impact, but it’s really challenging to get access because of the tyranny of distance. “So we are working hard at it, but not getting the traction we need. And we’re really refocusing on that again now to try and get a bigger impact than what we have done. “We are really trying to take more of the resources to the locations and trying to take the right people into those environments. “But it is a struggle just with the tyranny of distance and isolation of groups, and getting the critical mass you need to have a feedback.” It falls partly within the remit of WA Football’s head of pathways and development Peter Bell. “As part of that talent program, we are working with the two AFL clubs at present with Peter (Bell) and really lobbying the AFL partly for funding to help resource the talent program, but their pushback to us is always, you’ve got to work together,” Callahan said. “So we’re resolving that with the two AFL clubs. And the AFL clubs are the beacon. They’re the hero brand, and will fit in behind that. “So we get them to work together, then we get all the other organisations. The Stephen Michael foundation as an example, is just one of many. There’s government organisations that do it as well. We’re all doing separate stuff. “You get a critical mass and bang for your buck that you don’t get if you’re all trying to do little bits and pieces. So a work in progress. But we learn a lot of lessons.” COMPROMISED AFL DRAFT AND FIXTURES Tasmania’s entry into the AFL in 2028 became very real this week when the AFGL announced a list-build bounty of concessions. A raft of picks over three drafts, a flexible list size and access to existing AFL talent and a sign on bonus pool of $5 million outside the salary cap has rival clubs understandably nervous. Callahan said the AFL’s priorities were the “fixture for the integrity of the competition and the draft”. “If you’re at the bottom of the ladder now it’s really hard to come out the other end because of the compromises in the draft process,” he said. ”Tasmania is only going to make that worse. “So from the perspective of the local clubs, it’s not so much a short-term challenge for Freo but for West Coast, Tasmania is a big challenge to how they might get back up the top of the ladder. “The other issue is it’s yet another organisation that the AFL is going to support, and funding will go that way, and it won’t help us continue to ask for funding from the AFL in that short to medium term. “The draft is compromised. It needs to change. Otherwise it doesn’t serve its purpose and we won’t get the competition we need. “So there needs to be change to that. There’s the romance around the father and son, but it needs to be much more balanced, so that the young clubs aren’t penalised because they don’t have them. And you know, the system isn’t manipulated.” THIRD WA AFL TEAM Another AFL team playing out of WA was way down the list of priorities, according to Callahan. “The AFL is focused on Tasmania. It takes a lot of resources to establish a club. Wherever you put it, is going to need some subsidies.” Callahan said. “I think it’s beyond the capabilities of AFL or any other place to support that and Tasmania.” WAFL ZONING WA Football has embarked on one of its most difficult challenges - changes to WAFL zoning. Callahan said they now had access to data before they approach the clubs for change. “We’ve now produced data sets that went to the WAFL clubs in August and we will get feedback from them,” he said. “From there, WA Football will then look at each each data set from a talent perspective, whether it’s a positive, a negative or a neutral, and then we’ll have a look at what that means for each of the clubs. “So my view is we’ll get it finished before the end of the year, and it’ll get phased in next year. “There will be some changes next year. But what they are, we don’t have an agenda. “We know that some zones are better than others, some zones are managed and harvested better than others. “Siitting along with the talent and equity and access programs we need to be able to make sure that the kids have the opportunities to come through the system in a way that’s consistent. “So that’s where the zones at. The other thing that’s important, we are changing the way we look at talent development. “We’ve historically done everything by zones. So all the resources have been equal in equal zones. We’re changing that philosophy now to go, well, where’s the need? So we’ve got really good data now on where all Indigenous kids are in the metro area, or where the multicultural kids are, and that sort of stuff. “So we can put all the resources we like into Claremont or the western suburbs, it’s not going to make any difference. So do you divert those resources and put them into the areas where you have the development opportunities that are not there? “So we’re working through that now to go where’s the need, rather than everybody’s equal in terms of the resources you get? Because not every WAFL club is equal with the resources available to them. “That’s a fundamental change in how we will roll out resourcing over the next couple months.” BY THE NUMBERS Participation numbers were up two per cent year on year, with 87,473 involved at some level across the State. Auskick numbers were also up two per cent to 16,542, country football numbers were consistent, while there was an 18.9 per cent spike in female participation. Australian and Torres Strait Islander numbers, as flagged earlier, were up 11.8 per cent, while Callahan said WA Football was encouraged by the number of players from families with parents born overseas - 20,924. All abilities numbers also rose to 2679. “We don’t play games with that, that’s real people who front up,” Callahan said of the figures. “With the girls we are seeing the juniors are growing and the seniors are growing, but we lose them in the youth, which is not dissimilar to the boys,” Callahan said. “One of the one of the real challenges for women is facilities. We’ve had support from the government and the AFL and us around getting women’s changerooms so that’s been good and we’ve done a lot of work with local governments on that. “The challenge and it’s all sports is with a growing population, there aren’t enough facilities so, so getting women on to grounds is a big problem. “As those kids come through the system and start playing their footy, where do they play? “So we’ve got a we’ve got to work constructively with local governments, state governments, federal governments, in trying to extend the use of the grounds we’ve got, which means lights. “Our minister is on top of that, but there’s never enough money to do that. “All Abilities is the best story. If you’ve ever been to an integrated All Abilities game, you can’t help but be uplifted, and the clubs have embraced them.”