The Australian Football League Player’s Association (AFLPA) has launched a new program aimed at educating future AFL agents.
The Executive Certificate (Player Agents) is a course which runs for 6 weeks covering areas including Crisis Management, Talent Identification and Player Development. Realizing the majority of those interested would be full time workers, the course will take place at night.
The course will be run by those involved in the industry, including many current player agents. Strategic Management’s Liam Pickering, manager of the AFLPA’s MVP Gary Ablett, will run the class on Talent Identification; Alex McDonald, who launched his own agency last year, will speak on the subject of building a player agent’s business.
Ian Prendergast, General Manager of Player Operations has this to say about the course:
“Being a player agent requires a lot of different skills. This course will teach the lot, from the ability to identify talent, through to the regulatory environment that player agents operate under.”
Although the course will focus largely on the AFL agent landscape, there are many lessons that can be transferred to other sports. The cost is $4400 for non agents, and $3500 if you already posses an AFL agent accreditation. The accreditation fee is waived the following year if a student is successful in obtaining accreditation.
The course begins on Tuesday the 29th of October. More details can be found here.