Chief Executive Officer Report

emerging youth between the ages of 13 and 17. The lack of an AFL international representative calendar over the Covid period has had a massive impact on these numbers and the effect has had a chain reaction on other stages of our pathway.

The major impacts have included;

• The debut of our first ever national women’s senior team, New Zealand Kahu was due to take place at the 2020 International Cup now pushed back to 2024.

• The annual contest for the AFL New Zealand Academy against Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League has not taken place since April 2019 with their scheduled return in April 2023 four years later.

• The New Zealand Falcons last played a match against the AFL Academy in April 2019.

• The 2022 AFLNZ Premiership did not proceed due to Covid travel restrictions, with the 2021 season truncated due to similar issues.

• The Under 18 New Zealand teams annual tour to Melbourne has not taken place since April 2019.

Following on from Covid interruptions to both the AFL New Zealand Premiership and New Zealand Teams calendar, it was determined that the AFL New Zealand Men’s Premiership be reduced from 4 to 3 teams for the 2023 season.

The Northern Suns will not participate in the 2023 Season but will look to be reinstated in 2024.

To effectively coordinate the playing groups of four teams and to successfully manage injury and unavailability during the season, a critical mass of 120 players is required to ensure the highest quality playing experience.

Significant increases in domestic flight expenses as well as inflationary impacts have imposed financial pressures on the AFLNZ Premiership’s operations.

With regional training hubs now in place, the Northern Suns have the lowest club catchment of the four Premiership teams.

Currently, the North Shore Tigers make up over 80% of the Northern Suns playing group and this has impacted available squad numbers.

As an emerging sport within New Zealand, our game is reliant upon new opportunities to stimulate growth. The AFL New Zealand Premiership season would generally see 20 to 30 new players transitioning from the Academy and New Zealand Youth representative teams into their first season of senior football. The pressures and the limitations caused by Covid have resulted in difficult but practical decisions as we look to maintain functionality within the organisation and work towards reigniting