{"id":194470,"date":"2025-07-04T19:28:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T09:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=194470"},"modified":"2025-07-04T19:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T09:28:18","slug":"sanfl-to-launch-under-18-girls-competition-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2025\/07\/04\/sanfl-to-launch-under-18-girls-competition-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"SANFL to launch Under 18 Girls competition in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SOUTH Australia will have a dedicated state-wide Under 18 Girls competition next year with the landmark announcement out of the SANFL today. Having previously run the Development League &#8211; essentially the reserves for the SANFLW for half of the League season &#8211; it will now be replaced by an exclusive underage competition like the Coates Talent League Girls in Victoria, or Rogers Cup in Western Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aim of the competition is to provide a more structured and sustainable pathway for emerging female talent in the state, with seven minor rounds &#8211; where each SANFLW side will play every other team once &#8211; and a three-week finals series. The league will run in a similar timeframe to the Development League, with the new competition wrapping up by the end of April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SANFL Head of Talent and Football Operations <strong><em>Sean Toohey <\/em><\/strong>said the new competition is a critical step in strengthening South Australia\u2019s female talent framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe SANFL Under-18 Girls competition introduces a sustainable, nationally aligned structure that fosters talent, skill development, and broad participation across all levels,\u201d Toohey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSouth Australia remains the only major football state without a dedicated underage girls\u2019 talent competition \u2014 this change addresses that gap and builds a strong foundation for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe competition will also ensure girls in SANFL state talent programs will have greater access to elite-level, competitive football that supports their growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>KEY DETAILS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SANFL collaborated with SANFL Club female football managers to fine-tune the competition\u2019s structure and match conditions, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Age brackets and overage permit allowances<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team size and interchange numbers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Application of anti-density rules<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Season format and finals structure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Competition Details:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Eligible Age Range:<\/strong>&nbsp;Players turning 15 (minimum age) to 18 (maximum age) in the calendar year of the season<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overage Permits:<\/strong>&nbsp;Up to four 19-year-olds per team per match, provided they are listed on a senior team list<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Team Format:<\/strong>&nbsp;16 players on field, 5 interchange (21 total), consistent with SANFLW<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Anti-Density Rule:<\/strong>&nbsp;Enforced, with four players behind halfway at stoppages and kick-ins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The change is a positive one for the state&#8217;s youth, with the only main downside for those older players who previously competed for a senior spot through the Development League will now have to earn their place with form at local level instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However Toohey explained further the decision making behind the change from an open-age reserves league to a dedicated underage league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Development League was introduced to strengthen club squads and talent pathways while maintaining connection and participation in community football,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs our talent system matures, we now need a dedicated underage competition to give younger players the best chance to succeed at higher levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SOUTH Australia will have a dedicated state-wide Under 18 Girls competition next year with the landmark announcement out of the SANFL today. Having previously run the Development League &#8211; essentially the reserves for the SANFLW for half of the League season &#8211; it will now be replaced by an exclusive underage competition like the Coates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":194471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7638,3130,15,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sanflw","category-south-australia","category-state-leagues","category-womens"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194470"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194476,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194470\/revisions\/194476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}