Swans and GIANTS Academies join new NAB League

A new era in Under 18s football will begin in 2019 with the introduction of the NAB League.

NAB, a long-time partner of the NAB AFL Rising Star Program in Australia, will further support the future stars of the game, extending its partnership with the AFL to the next exciting phase of the expanded Under-18 competition, that now includes teams from Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory, New South Wales, the ACT and Queensland.

As a part of this extended league, both the Sydney Swans and GIANTS Academies will take part over a five-week period in the lead up to the 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. During these matches, players from New South Wales and the ACT will look to put their best foot forward, with selectors using these games as a base for Allies team selection.

CLICK HERE to see the full 2019 NAB League fixture

In a significant development for the national sport, the Tasmanian Devils will be a fully-fledged NAB League team in 2019.

Fixture highlights include a Round 2 footy feast at Blacktown Internationals Sportspark, where three games involving all the northern Academies (Sydney Swans, GIANTS, Northern Territory, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast) as well as the newly formed Tasmania Devils side, will all be played out over March 30.

With a focus to provide further support in education, wellbeing, high performance and coaching, the NAB League will help increase opportunities for talented footballers to reach their potential both on and off the field.

It will also help better prepare the athletes that don’t get drafted, returning to local clubs and schools as peer leaders who set examples.

AFL Head of Talent Pathways & State League Competitions, Tristan Salter, welcomed NAB’s involvement with the next chapter of growth in the under 18 pathway.

“NAB has been a fantastic supporter of our AFL talent pathways for 18 years now and it is exciting that they will extend their support and be naming rights partner for this new era,” Mr Salter said.

In a step forward for footy fans, a revamped digital platform, highlighted by the official NAB League app, will offer insights never before seen from the competition.

“The dedicated NAB League app will provide our audience with live information at their fingertips, from stats to game vision and match highlights,” Mr Salter said.

“The increased digital access to the competition and its players will help our audience learn more about our draft prospects across the entire season, not just around draft time.”

NAB’s Head of Media and Partnerships, Thomas Dobson said, “We’re thrilled to extend our longstanding AFL partnership with the introduction of the NAB League.  As a proud partner of NAB AFL Auskick and the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program, the NAB League sees us further support the development pathways for young footballers and to help grow the game.  We look forward to seeing the competition kick off in March.”

NAB will be joined by four further partners to bring in the new era of the NAB League, with Telstra, PUMA, Open Universities Australia (OUA) and The Bar Counter aiming to elevate the league to be the number one under age sporting competition in the country.

The NAB League girls’ competition begins on March 2 with the boys to start March 23. The NAB League app will launch mid-March.

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