THE CARLTON Football Club has officially partnered with the Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) and the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) to strengthen the Club’s ties through the northern corridor of Melbourne.

The local football leagues will work alongside the Blues to grow the representative pathways, and continue to assist in identifying and nurturing the next generation of talent within the Club’s recruitment zone. 

The partnership will see the northern corridor’s emerging talent receive industry-leading, high-performance opportunities to develop their skills as footballers, in a partnership set to strengthen the pathways for junior talent in the region.

“To be able to provide opportunities to help emerging footballers through the northern area of Melbourne pursue their dream is something we are excited to grow over the coming years,” Carlton GM of Football Brad Lloyd said.

“Both the Yarra Junior Football League and Northern Football and Netball League are well established junior competitions, who are well engrained in the fabric of the northern suburbs, which is a synergy we certainly share with them and really want to further strengthen moving forward.

“The partnership will allow us to better connect junior footballers with not only personnel at the Club, but also show them the professionalism needed, from a young age, to earn a career at the elite level.

At the end of 2021, Dom Akuei became the Club’s inaugural graduate from the Carlton Academy program as a Category-B rookie, with the Club excited to see further opportunities provided over the coming years as a result of this enhanced pathways program.

Current AFL/AFLW players who have come from the YJFL or NFNL:

  • Lulu Beatty (Darebin)
  • Kerryn Peterson (Bendigo)
  • Ciara Fitzgerald (West Preston-Lakeside)
  • Jess Dal Pos (Darebin)
  • Matt Owies (Camberwell)
  • Marc Pittonet (Kew)
  • David Cuningham (Canterbury)
  • Jack Silvagni (Greythorn)
  • Mimi Hill (Kew)
  • Madeline Guerin (Fitzroy)
  • Jessica Dal Pos (Ivanhoe)
  • Dom Akuei (St Marys Greensborough)
  • Brooke Vickers (Blackburn)