Talking Point: Don’t forget Tasmania’s biggest team sport

MATT BULKELEY: There are good reasons why 35,000 Tasmanians embrace the world game

FUTURE: National stage. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The push for a Tasmanian Aussie rules team has certainly got parts of the Tasmanian community talking. I think this is a very worthwhile conversation to have. Tasmania deserves its place in national sports competitions and has a long association with Aussie rules.

However, as part of this broader conversation, it’s worth pointing out how the landscape has changed.

In April, Sports Australia released its Ausplay report. While just under 25,000 Tasmanians play Aussie rules, nearly 35,000 Tasmanians have embraced the world game.

What these figures show and what I’ve seen around the state is a growing groundswell of support for football. Football has become the state’s favourite team sport and with the success of the women’s team at the World Cup, that is only set to increase.

Our sport is growing rapidly among younger Tasmanians. Registration data shows one in four boys aged 6 to 10 are playing football. Young girls are increasingly turning to football as their preferred team sport. Our women’s competition has been going strong for more than 40 years and shows the enduring popularity of football in Tasmania. Polling last year shows one in five Tasmanian households is directly involved in the football community.

While sadly some sports struggle to find enough players to put on the park each weekend, our greatest challenge is to find enough parks for our players.

Take the amazing story of the Hobart Cup this month. The annual tournament is played at multiple venues across the capital. About 2000 players took part in the three day competition, representing 130 different teams. Not only is it the state’s biggest youth team sports event it’s arguably the state’s biggest team sport event full stop.

And to boot it doesn’t cost the taxpayer a single cent to hold this massive event.

The Hobart Cup coincided with a visit by the Central Coast Mariners A League side, organised and funded by South Hobart Football Club. Again, a great coup and a clear sign that not only is football becoming more popular, Tasmania is becoming more relevant and important to football at a national level.

What was also clear from the weekend was that, like a some other sports in Tasmania, the infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with community expectations. Even changerooms and toilet facilities aren’t up to scratch.

Football Tasmania has been working closely on this with Tasmanian Minister for Sport Jeremy Rockliff and Federal Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck. We are grateful for their support and look forward to continuing to work with all levels of government, including local, to improve facilities.

It’s vital that as a community we support sport. The benefits of team sports in social inclusiveness, community spirit and health outcomes are of great value.

Tasmania is a changing place. Until a couple of decades ago, Aussie rules and cricket were the dominant sports. That is no longer the case. The community is embracing other sports and in particular football.

It’s also worth pointing out there is a far greater chance Tasmania will have an A-League and a W-League football side before anyone laces up the boots for an Aussie rules team. The A-League has indicated it could expand beyond the current 12 teams as early as 2021 and that Tasmania has a strong case as next cab off the rank.

It’s great there is such a strong discussion on Aussie rules and ensuring Tasmania isn’t left out of national competitions.

But we shouldn’t overlook Tasmania’s most popular team sport in the process.

Matt Bulkeley is chief executive of Football Tasmania.