The "cash-strapped" Australian Football League Coaches Association has "convinced all but one of the 18 senior club coaches" to sacrifice a A$5,000 ($4,652) professional development subsidy in a "bid to restore the organisation's ailing finances," according to Caroline Wilson of THE AGE. Only Essendon's Mark Thompson has "to date refused to forgo the money that is claimed by AFL coaches every year in a bid to further their coaching credentials" through study, int'l travel or other forms of teaching or technological development. The coaches association, which was "virtually disbanded several months ago and is undergoing a full restructure," lost A$160,000 in '13 and was headed toward a "similar deficit" in '15 as the "rapidly increasing numbers of assistant and development coaches were all claiming professional development grants." The AFL Coaches Association is "funded by the AFL to the tune" of A$850,000 annually, with all senior coaches paying an annual A$800 membership fee. The A$5,000 subsidy is "conditional on the coaches committing to four public appearances each year" (THE AGE, 8/21).
