	{"id":179367,"date":"2026-02-03T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=179367"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T06:16:17","slug":"structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Structure changes to All Abilities Football Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AFL BARWON will introduce two distinct football division to its All-Abilities football competition, designed to better support participation, safety and long-term growth.<\/p>\n<p>From 2026, the All-Abilities football competition will be separated into a contact division which will maintain the dynamic, competitive nature of the current model, and a non-contact division designed to support non-tackle participants and provide an accessible entry point for players seeking a modified experience.<\/p>\n<p>The introduction of a non-contact division reflects AFL Barwon&#8217;s ongoing commitment to inclusion and participation needs.<\/p>\n<p>The clubs participating in the All-Abilities Football Netball League will remain the same as in 2025 across both competitions, with one adjustment.<\/p>\n<p>Following a collaborative agreement between the two clubs, Newtown and Chilwell will fill the non-competitive position previously held by Bell Park in the non-contact football competition.<\/p>\n<p>AFL Barwon will continue to administer both competitions, working closely with clubs, participants, and stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition into the new structure.<\/p>\n<p>Further information regarding competition rules and fixturing will be shared with clubs and the broader community ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFL BARWON will introduce two distinct football division to its All-Abilities football competition, designed to better support participation, safety and long-term growth. From 2026, the All-Abilities football competition will be separated into a contact division which will maintain the dynamic, competitive nature of the current model, and a non-contact division designed to support non-tackle participants [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":179370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-179367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Structure changes to All Abilities Football Competition - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AFL Barwon updates the All Abilities Football Competition with new contact and non-contact divisions to boost safety and inclusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Structure changes to All Abilities Football Competition - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AFL Barwon updates the All Abilities Football Competition with new contact and non-contact divisions to boost safety and inclusion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/28-jan-tng-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Rivalland\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf7cb8dfe63a187785b4e65994914833\"},\"headline\":\"Structure changes to All Abilities Football Competition\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":181,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/28-jan-tng-4.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/sport\\\/structure-changes-to-all-abilities-football-competition\\\/\",\"name\":\"Structure changes to All Abilities Football Competition - 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