THE BEST 17-year-olds across Australia have been selected for the 2025 Marsh AFL National Academy, ready to hone their skills as they enter their final year of junior footy.
Academies are an oft-discussed part of modern football, with various programs placed around the country. There are the northern academies, linked to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney. There are Next Generation academies utilised by clubs to increase participation for under-represented parts of the community, including those from multicultural backgrounds.
And there is the National Academy, where the highest rated talent is selected to participate in three camps, play in exhibition matches to develop as players and show off their skill for club recruiters ahead of the draft.
"This is so different," Queensland's Georja Davies told AFL.com.au at the Academy's first training session this week.
"It's so individualised, and we're doing our own thing. I've never had a ruck coach, and just then I was doing ruck stuff, and just getting another perspective is just so helpful."
Davies, who is also part of Gold Coast's Academy program and plays for Southport in the QAFLW, is one of the top draft prospects for 2025, as is teammate Dekota Baron.
"The National Academy has definitely been a different approach to the one size fits all. Usually at the Suns, it's very much a team approach, but when you're here, it's more individual," Baron said.
The same goes for impressive intercept defender Evie Cowcher from Western Australia, who in the last two years has been named the state's best performer of the U18 Championships, despite being a bottom-ager.
Part of WA's talent pathway, Cowcher is not tied to any club or state-based Academy, so the National Academy is her first experience of such an intensive program.
"I reckon it's a lot different here. In WA it's mainly team and not really individually doing your own thing, working on the things that you need to get better at in your position," Cowcher said.
The track record of the program is clear. Of the 21 members of the 2022 Academy group, 19 ended up on AFLW lists, and from the 30 in 2023, 23 were drafted last December.
That group includes 2024 Telstra Rising Star Matilda Scholz, Hawthorn young gun Jasmine Fleming, Sydney best and fairest winner Sofia Hurley and exciting Bomber Amy Gaylor.
Outside of the opportunity to technically improve their footy skills, those chosen for the National Academy also see the program as an opportunity to not just make some new friends, but ignite the competitiveness within them.
"If you want to stand out, you obviously have to show your strengths, and it's also just better having more good girls around you because obviously it pushes you," Davies said.
"Because, if you're always the best, then you're never going to improve, you're never challenged. So being around other girls and actually being challenged, you have to think your way around it."
The clear drive amid the group forces a shift in mindset for the players, who are all pushing for the ultimate goal – to be drafted. That's not always the case at their clubs at home.
"Your training lifts too, the intensity lifts if you're with people that want to do what you want to do," Cowcher said.
With camp No.1 now completed, the group will come together twice more in the first half of 2025 for more training intensives and education sessions, as well as two exhibition matches against a national under-23 All-Stars team.
