AFL General Manager Football Operations Mark Evans today announced the appointment of Brenton Sanderson as NAB AFL Academy Head Coach.
Evans said Sanderson was the lead contender in a high-quality field of applicants to guide the overall development of the elite teenage players in the country as they prepared for possible AFL careers. AFL clubs were notified of his appointment today and he will begin in the role at the end of this month.
Sanderson, 40, played 209 games for the Adelaide Crows, Collingwood and the Geelong Cats between 1992-2005, before taking on assistant coach roles at Port Adelaide (2006) and Geelong (2007-11) and the senior coaching job at the Adelaide Crows for the 2012-14 seasons.
Mr Evans said the primary role of Sanderson as the NAB AFL Academy Head Coach would be to oversee the development and training path of the elite junior players selected from the NAB AFL Under 18s and NAB AFL Under 16s Championships, in the lead-up to possible selection in the NAB AFL Draft and a career at a senior club.
"The transition from underage junior football to the senior AFL competition is the largest step in the game for our elite juniors," Mr Evans said.
"The NAB AFL Academy program seeks to fast-track that move into an AFL club with two major focuses around match-specific coaching to assist the on-field development of young talent and off-field education to ensure they can thrive in an AFL-club environment.
"Match-specific coaching that will be led by Brenton centres around areas including skill acquisition, game awareness, contested ball-winning, decision-making and physical preparation.
"The development of the individual off-field is equally important and the Academy program focuses also on personal development, presentation skills, nutrition and recovery and the values expected at AFL clubs," Mr Evans said.
Other coaches who are currently in the AFL Academy system, who will now be working under Brenton, include Brad Johnson, Glen Jakovich, Brad Ottens, Tadhg Kennelly and the various head coaches at State level.
Sanderson said he was delighted to win the role as Academy Head Coach and said the position had immediately appealed to him when it was advertised nationally last December.
“I was part of the first Australian Under18 Squad to tour Ireland in 1991 and have always had enormous respect for the program. Having coached at AFL level, I knew I could offer the required skill set to help the narrow the gap between the jump from underage competition to an AFL list,” Sanderson said.
“While the task will primarily be preparing Australia's best young talent for the transition to AFL, an important part of the role will be to ensure our junior coaches are proficient in educating our players in the modern game and are given the required resources to help them develop.
“In short, the program's aim will be to best replicate the typical AFL program to ensure the Academy Players acquire all the tools to transition effectively to the AFL system,” he said.
The NAB AFL Academy is part of the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, which supports grassroots players and football communities and helps young Australians fulfil their dream of playing in the AFL.
NAB has been Footifying Australia since 2002 through the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program which comprises the following elements:
- NAB AFL Rising Star
- NAB AFL Draft
- NAB AFL Draft Combine
- NAB AFL Under-18 Championships
- NAB AFL Academy
- NAB AFL Under-16 Championships
