Next Goal celebrates 10 year anniversary

The AFL industry’s groundbreaking Next Goal program, which helps players transition successfully to life after football, is a decade old.

The program, run jointly by the AFL Players’ Association and AFL SportsReady, facilitates practical work experience in an industry of the player’s choice, allowing them to make more informed decisions about their post-football career.

Since its inception 10 years ago, 156 players have completed the program, with 41 currently undertaking placements.

To celebrate the milestone, today’s Next Goal Breakfast featured former program participant and Western Bulldogs cult hero Daniel Southern, who explored his love of animals with a placement at Melbourne Zoo in 2002.

The experience was instrumental in Southern deciding to pursue a career in the travel industry, and now organises adventure travel tours in Egypt and the broader Middle East region.

He was joined at the breakfast by former Essendon player Chris Heffernan, whose placement in the finance industry led to a career in high finance in New York. Heffernan is now back in Melbourne working for Ernst and Young.

AFL SportsReady Project Manager Rayden Tallis said that Southern and Heffernan were two great examples of how Next Goal helps players make critical decisions about what the want to do after they hang up their boots.

“Every year, dozens of players are delisted or retire – Next Goal is one of our key weapons in efforts to ensure they are ready for their ‘second career’,” said Tallis.

“We’re confident that Next Goal will be helping players for a couple more decades to come.”

AFL Players’ Association CEO Matt Finnis said the Next Goal program was an integral part of the wellbeing and development pathway that is available to all Association members.

“Getting real, hands-on experience in a job that a player may want to pursue is an invaluable experience that has held many of our members in good stead when they have left the game,” Finnis said.

“Along with education support, financial and career advice and wellbeing services, work placements are a big part of our efforts to make AFL the best possible career pathway in Australian sport.”    
                
Also speaking was former Brisbane and Western Bulldogs player Marty Pask, who is studying Business Law with Open Universities Australia (OUA).

Pask was also named at the breakfast as one of five winners of the Learning for Life Scholarships awarded by OUA to AFL players who have been retired for three or more years.

The other winners are Kris Massie, Adrian Fletcher, Stephen Schwerdt and Rob Forster-Knight.