Football Tasmania (known formerly Football Federation Tasmania) has today announced its official rebranding, to fall into line with the national rebrand being undertaken by all States, and released an inaugural 2019 State of Play report.
The State of Play report takes a warts and all look at the game that more Tasmanian's play than any other and looks ahead to what can be expected in the coming year.
Football Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley said that it was important to reflect on the state of the game in Tasmania.
“Highlights of this year’s report include a recap of the 2018 season, where Devonport’s National Premier League team and Ulverstone’s Women’s Super League team showed the north-west to be a real football powerhouse,” Mr Bulkeley said.
“We outline our goals for the sport in 2019, which include improving football infrastructure and continuing to grow the women’s game. In Tasmania 26 per cent of registered football players are female which is the highest proportion of any state or territory in Australia and we would like to see this figure rise even further.
“Recent polling shows that across the state one in five households is directly involved in football and that number is even higher in the major population centres. It’s through initiatives like the State of Play report that we hope to show the positive impact that football has on the community.
“We have also set a target to grow participation to five per cent of the Tasmanian population, which is projected to be a total of 26,000 players, volunteers, coaches and referees enjoying our great game.
“Football is at a real crossroads in Tasmania at the moment. Given the prolific growth of the sport in Tasmania, one of our major challenges this year is to ensure we have the grounds and facilities to cater for everyone who wants to play the World game.”
Mr Bulkeley said that with the federal election looming, Football Tasmania would be calling on all political parties to show their support for the sport in Tasmania and has identified a number of key projects that are outlined in the State of Play report.
Read the Football Tasmania State of Play Report