Say goodbye to the NAB League and say hello to the Coates Talent League.
The Aussie rules under-19s competition has a new name for 2023, with Coates taking over from NAB as the principal sponsor.
The name change will be the fourth iteration of the league, which started as the Victorian State Football League in 1992.
It was known as the TAC Cup from 1993-2018, before becoming the NAB League in 2019.
“To have Coates on board as major partner helps to ensure the ongoing success of the competition and programs within it, while players, coaches, umpires and administrators who are part of the league will continue to receive the support their development requires in high-performance environments,” AFL Head of Talent Pathways Grant Williams said.
“On behalf of the programs and everyone involved, we thank Coates for their support and look forward to working with them on this partnership.”
Coates chief executive Murray Vitlich said it was exciting for the company to partner with the league.
“The Coates Talent League is the foundation of Australian Rules Football,” Vitlich said.
“It continues to grow the game and gives young athletes every opportunity to achieve their football dreams and play at the elite level.
“Fostering talent is something we believe in at Coates, and we look forward to supporting tomorrow’s stars achieve success on and off the field.”
NAB, which first partnered with the AFL in 2002, will still have its name associated with football moving forward.
The banking giant will continue to be the naming rights sponsor for both the NAB AFLW competition and NAB Auskick program.
Thirteen teams will continue to compete in the Coates Talent League full-time — 12 from across Victoria and one from Tasmania — with academy sides from NSW, Queensland, and the Northern Territory also playing for part of the season.
Each program will have both a full-time girls and full-time boys coach in 2023.
The girls competition will kick off on Saturday, March 18 while the boys competition will start a week later on Saturday, March 25.
The grand finals will be held on September 23 and 24.