Footy training for Sydney’s north, east & south
This is the Swans’ home ground, in every sense. Juniors from the beaches to the Shire are in one academy’s zone, with four city training hubs and a new premier competition arriving in 2027.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.
Sydney’s north, east, inner west and south are Sydney Swans Academy zone. The Academy trains at hubs in Sydney City, North Sydney, South Sydney and the Northern Beaches, and works with over 700 athletes aged 11 to 19 across NSW. Seven of the nine clubs in the new Sydney Football League, from 2027, are in this part of the city.
Your academy
On the AFL’s NSW/ACT zoning map these council areas are in the Sydney Swans Academy zone. The map uses council names from before the 2016 mergers.
- Sydney Swans Academy
- City hubs: Sydney City, North Sydney, South Sydney and the Northern Beaches. Youth Academy (under-11 to 15) and Top End Academy (under-16 to 19, invite-only).
Councils on the line between the two academies on that map — Ryde, Parramatta, Auburn and Bankstown among them — are not assigned here. Check the map, or ask the Academy.
The competitions
- Sydney Football League clubs here (from 2027)
- Sydney University (City and Inner West), UNSW Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs (East-Bayside), UTS Bats (East Parkside), North Shore Bombers (North Shore), Manly Warringah Wolves (Northern Beaches), Pennant Hills Demons (North West) and St George Dragons (South).
- AFL Sydney
- Community football across the city.
Set it up for North, east & south Sydney
Four things, in the order the app asks them. None of them needs a coach.
Choose footy, then your team nights
Onboarding asks “When do you train with your team?” Pick your club nights — Sydney Football League clubs here (from 2027) or wherever you play — and your gym and conditioning are scheduled around them, lighter the day after a big one. Tell it your equipment and any niggles and every exercise is fitted to both.
Match the program to your league’s start
The app treats March as the start of the footy season. If your community season starts in April, you can hold the pre-season a few weeks longer by setting the phase yourself. The phase lives in Program → Your year.
Know your numbers on day one
Your first testing session is ready immediately: 2km time trial, Bench press 1RM, Max pull-ups, Trap-bar deadlift 1RM, Running vertical jump. It is re-run every 8 weeks, and the results re-price your training weights and conditioning paces.
Put your suburb on the board
In Social → Town, set where you train. Your minutes count toward that town’s weekly conditioning and strength top-10 boards — only the town is kept, never your location.
What you start with, by the month you join
Every block is four weeks — three building, one deload — so a free month is one complete block. The footy calendar and conditions are on the Sydney guide.
Coaching a side in North, east & south Sydney?
A club licence is A$8 per player, per month (minimum 5), and every player on it gets full Train Smart membership at no cost to them. You write the block once, it lands in each player’s app, and the console shows who actually did it.
Footy in North, east & south Sydney: questions
Which AFL academy covers the northern beaches, the east and the Shire?
Where does the Swans Academy train in Sydney?
How do you get into the Swans Academy?
Where these facts come from
Checked September 2026. Zones, grades and dates change — if something here is out of date, the governing body is right and we are wrong.
- AFL — NSW/ACT club academy zoning map
- Sydney Swans Academy — the program
- AFL — Sydney Football League established from 2027
Spotted an error? Tell us and we will fix it.
Nearby and related
Sydney footy
The leagues, the season and every region across Sydney.
OpenWestern & south-western Sydney
GIANTS Academy zone — Penrith and the Blue Mountains to the Hills, Liverpool and Campbelltown.
OpenThe AFL pathway
From community level to state league and the draft — and what gets tested along the way.
OpenTurn up to round one already fit
Pick footy, tell it your team nights, and your first block and testing session are ready before you leave the car park.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.