Football is now Tasmania’s most popular team sport and an independent competition review is set to help the World Game continue to grow and expand in Tasmania, according to Football Tasmania CEO, Matt Bulkeley.
Mr Bulkeley said the review was about ensuring the current and future needs of football in Tasmania were well understood and incorporated into Football Tasmania’s broader strategy.
“Football in Tasmania is in great shape, but there’s still more that needs to be done. We need to make sure all of our competitions across all age groups and levels can evolve, respond and adapt to change and that’s really what this review was all about.
As part of the review, the independent consultants, Sport Business Partners, went right around the State talking to players, coaches, clubs, fans and administrators to find out what’s happening at the grassroots level.
“The review included numerous recommendations, all of which have been either accepted or accepted in-principle. We will now begin the process of working with the football community on the implementation of the recommendations. The recommendations covered areas including NPL, rostering, player pathways, competition structures, women’s and girls’ football, coach development and education, social football, club development resources, and facility development and government resources.”
Football Tasmania President Bob Gordon said the Board was very pleased with the process and with the insights provided as part of the review.
“Our stakeholders have engaged in the process at each step of the way including commenting on the interim recommendations before the Board finalised its decision to agree in-principle to the recommendations of the review. It’s difficult to balance the competing priorities of the various parts of the game but we feel we have achieved decisions and subsequent outcomes which are in the best interests of football throughout the state.
“We are excited about the future and strengthening all of our competitions including the NPL and Women’s Super League. We are working hard on having a NPLW competition in the years ahead and we believe this will position us well to achieve this objective.
“This review provides a vision and roadmap for the game in the next 10 years and beyond and will allow us to build on our very large participation base. 1 in 4 boys and 1 in 10 girls play football in Tasmania making the World Game by far the most popular sport. Off the back of the review we are determined to build on this and provide structures and participation opportunities for players of all abilities.
“As always one of our biggest challenges will be to ensure we have enough grass space and adequate change facilities for our clubs and players and we continue to work with all levels of government on supporting these aims. FT is also committed to providing tangible support to our clubs off the field and as a governing body will be focused on this as we work towards strengthening the NPL and WSL, working with clubs who aspire to be in these competitions and building the overall pathway for players,” Mr Gordon said.
The report also recommended that Football Tasmania actively pursue various pathway opportunities, in particular an A League, W League and Y League team in Tasmania, which would provide local opportunities for the most talented players, referees and coaches in this state.
FT has developed an implementation plan following the Competition Review and will be working closely with all stakeholders on the delivery of this over the coming weeks, months and years.
Some of the key outcomes of the review include:
- The National Premier Leagues Tasmania competition will remain at eight teams for at least the remainder of the current license period (2022). This follows the decision on Tuesday of this week by Clarence United and Hobart Zebras to merge in 2020;
- Promotion and relegation will be suspended for at least the remainder of the current license period and will be reviewed again after further consultation with all clubs in the lead-up to 2022;
- Football Tasmania intend to introduce an NPL state wide reserves competition from the commencement of the next license period (2022), which will form part of the NPL criteria;
- The Southern Championship and Championship 1 competition will be expanded from 2020 and will include all southern-based NPL clubs. They will field teams in both competitions in addition to the NPL;
- The Women’s Super League competition will continue in 2020 and beyond. A criteria will be developed in the coming months with the view to introducing this in 2021;
- In the coming years an underpinning Youth Championship competition will be introduced in the north and the south to accommodate female and male players who aspire to play at the highest level both in Tasmania and potentially beyond; and
- Working with our clubs and associations, Football Tasmania will also have a very clear focus on growing the game through the provision of an expanded ‘community pathway’ for players at all ages who are motivated to play more for enjoyment and participation. This is an exciting opportunity that will see the game grow to even greater levels in the coming years.