A new Parliamentary Friends of Football Tasmania group has been launched at Parliament House on Thursday 21 March.
Minister for Sport and Recreation Jacquie Petrusma and Shadow Minister for Sport David O’Byrne are the co-convener's of the group which has been established in order to provide a forum for Members to meet and engage with key stakeholders in the football community and assist in progressing The World Game in Tasmania.
They were joined by FT President Bob Gordon, FT CEO Matt Bulkeley, FFA CEO David Gallop and FFA Chairperson Chris Nikou in launching the group at a Parliamentary lunch.
FT CEO, Matt Bulkeley said the inception of the group would provide an invaluable opportunity to help grow the game.
"The Parliamentary Friends of Football Tasmania group will provide an informal opportunity to directly meet with politicians a few times each year to discuss the current state of play, community benefits of football and the future growth of the game in Tasmania." Bulkeley said.
"With over 17,391 registered participants in 2018 and countless more casual players, football is the most played team sport in Tasmania and provides a host of health, social and economic benefits to the state. Football's global appeal also gives the sport the ability to inspire and engage diverse communities like no other sport can, providing immeasurable benefits to community spirit and togetherness."
He added that he hoped the formation of the group would help provide additional political support necessary to sustain the games growth in the State.
"While football is already strong in Tasmania, trends suggest this is just the beginning. Nationally, more than 1.1 million Australians play football – a number which continues to grow despite declining participation rates across other key sporting codes. Tasmanian football has grown in registered player numbers by 20 per cent in the last two years and Football Tasmania is committed to seeing the sport continue to grow so even more Tasmanian's can enjoy the benefits football brings to the community. We hope that by launching this new group, we can get the political support from both sides of politics that we need to help facilitate that continued growth"
