How to Become a Professional Australian Football Player
Historically, Australian football can be traced back to 1858. Currently, the major sports organizations representing Australian football are the professional Australian Football League (AFL) and the amateur Australian Football Association of North America (AFANA). The AFL Players Association (AFLPA) and the AFL have entered into a binding Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The first AFL player draft was held in 1986. In 2006, the base salary for rookie AFL players was $25,750 (AU$) per year. You may receive additional payment for living expenses as well.
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Things You'll Need
- Football
- Practice partners
- Uniform and pads
- Press kit (recommended)
- Sports agent (recommended)
Instructions
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1
Join the AFANA if you live in the U.S. (see Resources below). Practice as often as possible and compete on an AFANA team for at least 1 year.
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Participate in the league draft system. Notice to the league of availability for draft is required for consideration in the player draft. Also, in order to be eligible for consideration in the player draft, players must be at least 18 years old before June 30 by the year following the draft.
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Locate and contact teams in Australia regarding try-out information and requirements. You can find a directory of teams at the AFL website (see Resources below).
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Contact, locate and sign an agreement with an athlete agent. Being represented by an agent is highly recommended. A directory of AFL athlete agents can be found at the website for the AFL Players' Association (see Resources below).
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Prepare a press kit. A basic press kit should include an action photograph, contact information, news clippings in which you appear or have mentioned you, a DVD of your video highlights and a resume. It should be presented in a presentation pocket folder.
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Try out for team(s). Bring your own equipment to try-outs.
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Begin as a professional Australian Football player. Collect your paycheck and count your money! If you make a name for yourself in the AFL, you may be compensated for endorsing products as well.
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Tips & Warnings
There are several fine publications which cover Australian Football. They include “The AFL Record,” “Football Australia” and “Inside Football,” which are all available in Australia.
Australian football is a rough sport. It is not a question as to whether you will get hurt…the question is when.
Resources
- This site is operated by the Australian Football League (AFL). You can access a directory of Australian Football sports agents here.
- This is the official website for the Australian Football League Players Association (AFLPA).
- This website is maintained by the Australian Football Association of North America (AFANA) located in the United States.
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Comments
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hooligan12
Nov 30, 2009
this is ridiculous at no stage in someone's life ever could they just do this i know as im australian and play professional football. You need to be invited to a draft camp which is the elite 75 young players in the country and impress the clubs talent scouts. To do this however, you need to have played junior football at an elite level aswell. The only international players to have ever played the game come from ireland because gaelic football is extremely similar. One canadian player was drafted from NFL called mike pike but the concept of the game was too hard for him to play it at a professional level. So id suggest sticking to things you know about as this is useful unhelpful information and if someone was to follow this they would waste alot of money and have their dreams destroyed.
