Coaching Contracts or Employment? No Easy Answer in Sport - Part 1

Employment Law: 23 March 2019

Recent debate has focused on whether AFL coaches ought to be on a fixed term contract or in a permanent employment relationship. The club's desire to lock in a top coach, but without knowing whether they will deliver this season or the next, is part of the complexity, as is the coach's need to make the most of a limited professional opportunity to coach a top club, and build their long term reputation.

Intense media speculation over poor performance has also been blamed for creating unnecessary uncertainty in the club-coach relationship.  

There are six points to consider, whatever type of legal relationship is chosen by the club and coach:

1. There is only one ultimate winner at the end of the season - do the maths on the probability of any coach being successful, one, two or three seasons in a row is not that great in any sport!
2. A coach needs long term certainty to build the right team - a club needs goals, now!
3. No goals reached, and a club is always unhappy!
4. A sacked coach is always unhappy!
5. The legal remedies never satisfactorily provide justice to a club's or coach's reputation and long term prospects in the AFL;
6. The media will always speculate. It's their job.

There is no magic in simply converting from a contract to an employment relationship. Negotiating a contract requires trust and compromise. Only a foolish club executive will put faith in a coach making wild promises to turn around a club's fortunes. A contract must provide for when things go wrong, with a clearly defined exit strategy, including the management of media comment.

Kicking a goal in this debate first needs recognition of the above tensions. Negotiation, point by point, is a precursor to a well-drafted agreement that benefits both club and coach, and ultimately the AFL Code in the long term.

Please note: The information in this article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is not intended to be comprehensive or to apply to any specific circumstances. You should seek independent legal advice before acting on any information contained in this article.