NWFL: Tasmanian football league secures Australian first

A Tasmanian local footy competition has achieved an Australian first for female footy. See which milestone they reached and how they did it.

Tasmania’s North West Football League has achieved an Australian footy first.

The region has become the first in the country to have the league, umpires association and all affiliated clubs sign the AFL’s The Women and Girls Community Football Charter.

It is a commitment from leagues, clubs and umpiring groups to work towards making safe and inclusive environments for women and girls.

Those who have signed up are guided by four principles including opportunity, visibility, access and investment.

NWFL president Garry Carpenter celebrated the milestone achievement.

“The clubs have embraced where we want to go as a league and make sure we’re inclusive and open to everyone,” Carpenter said.

“It’s great to see female directors in football programs and there are now more opportunities for women to step up and take on leadership positions across the league.

“If you walk into any club at the moment, close to 50 per cent of volunteers, coaches and support staff are women.

“This charter has opened the doors to equality and we’re proud to be the first in Australia to reach this milestone.”

Devonport were the first club in the region to sign the charter and this year have introduced an under-14 girls team.

The club is also focused on providing women with greater coaching opportunities.

“We identified that our women’s program needed more professional pathways, and we jumped straight into some programs that AFL Tasmania offered and it’s been instrumental to the club,” Devonport’s director of female football Emma Hazlewood said.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure we have diverse leadership within our club, and many of our senior women’s players have now taken on coaching roles and training roles.”

The numbers behind next Devils milestone

— Jake Garland

The Tasmania Football Club is closing in on another milestone.

This week, the club is expected to tick over 210,00 founding members after being launched on March 18 last year.

New figures from the club reveal nearly 110,000 members live in Tasmania, while 20 per cent were born on the island but now live elsewhere.

Another 20 per cent have no direct ties to the state but feel a strong connection through visits or admiration for Tasmania’s identity.

Business consumer manager Jesse O'Hara with three of the Tasmania Devils young members as it was announced the club hit 210,000 members. Picture: AFL Tasmania

While almost 40 per cent of members are girls and women.

Devils boss Brendon Gale said it was great to see the membership base continuing to grow.

“Importantly our understanding of the member base allows us to ensure we are connecting with all of our members in a way that is meaningful to them,” he said.

“We are particularly energised by the number of young people that are members of our club and the percentage of both males and females that have signed up for founding memberships.

“To have so many young Tasmanians and young fans is such a healthy sign for our future and shows that the engagement for this club runs wide and deep across the community.

“We strongly believe the Tasmania Football Club will provide significant on- and off-field opportunities for young Tasmanians.”

Founding memberships will continue to remain open until later this year.

Clarence future looks bright with debutant success

— Jake Garland

Clarence unveiled its youngest debutant of the season in a gutsy win over a fired up North Hobart on Saturday.

Louis Sylvester, 15, ran out alongside three fellow debutants as the Roos hopped into second spot on the SFL Premier League ladder, now just a game behind ladder leaders Lauderdale.

Roos coach Grant Fagan said he was pretty happy to see the young talent coming through.

“I think he was pretty excited, he didn’t believe me on Thursday night when I told him initially,” Fagan said.

“But he has a great future, his effort today to compete was really good.”

Along with Sylvester, under-18 stars Jye Millward, Jonty Winch and Bradley Vincent also made their debuts.

All four players have spent the first part of the season in the Clarence reserves.

Millward and Roos gun Josh Green led the way in front of goal with four majors each.

“All young boys which pretty much came from the under-18s last year, which were very successful,” Fagan said.

“There is a few of those guys from our team, I reckon we had 10 or 12 at least who could still play under-18s football.

“So we are pretty young, the future is good, we just need to keep working.”

Originally published as NWFL: Tasmanian football league secures Australian first