Revealed: The grand plan to ‘supercharge’ northern junior footy
AFL Tasmania has made 36 recommendations to help the north’s stagnation of junior numbers, including new age groups. Read the big changes here.
Junior football in north Tasmania will undergo a major revamp, with the introduction of under-eights and age group adjustments to keep girls playing the sport among the biggest changes.
After a series of meetings between the Northern Tasmania Junior Football Association (NTJFA) and AFL Tasmania officials, 32 of 36 recommendations to solve the stagnation of junior football participation in the area have been approved by clubs.
The under eights, for boys and girls from next year, is designed to provide an entry to junior football closer to Auskick level.
The under-17 girls will also transition to an under-16 competition in 2027. That will coincide with the NTFA introducing an under-18 competition, ensuring a two-year gap in between divisions (12s, 14s, 16s and 18s) and a more gradual entry into the women’s level.
The report also recommends AFL Junior Rules, which have modifications including ball and team sizes and playing zones and contact, to be adopted in full.
No tacking or bumping is allowed at all in under-eights and there is no scoring, premiership points or finals until under-12 level.
It was recommended finals also be abolished in under-12s, but it wasn’t supported by the NTJFA clubs.
Last week Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill told this masthead “future proofing” junior programs was the major priority for the north.
The report said the number of NTJFA teams had decreased marginally from 96 to 95 over the past four seasons, with the Southern Tasmanian Junior Football League (STJFL) increasing from 194 to 210 over the same time frame.
AFL Tasmania’s community football manager Tom Barwick praised NTJFA and its clubs for embracing the changes, which they believe will help retain more players and enhance the experience for participants.
“We’re going to introduce an under eights competition, we see that as a really good opportunity to grow football in the north and catapult participation forward,” Barwick said.
“To have the chance for participants coming out of Auskick, where we’ve seen great growth since the introduction of the Devils, to have them flow into under eight competitions is really exciting.
“We’ve had an under eight competition in the STJFL which has had great success in helping that transition. It brings it back from under nines and keeps cohorts closer together. For some players it might be intimidating to go straight into an under nine competition.”
The adjustments in the female game are designed to retain more players at an age where other life priorities can emerge like work and end of school.
Currently only half of female players transition from junior football into seniors.
“It’s a traditional drop out period for a lot of sports that 16 to 18 age group,” Barwick said. “We’ve struggled with the transition from 17s to women. Having the under-18s available will help us retain more women and girls for longer, and provide a greater experience.”
The report’s other major recommendations include:
- clubs must nominate a minimum of two match day venues to play games;
- under eights will be held as gala days to make life easier for volunteers and parents;
- clubs to work towards removal of gate fees by 2028;
- all clubs to operate an Auskick centre with an all-girls option compulsory;
- clubs currently not NTJFA members can apply to enter under eight teams;
- establish an under-10 girls (currently mixed) from next year;
- a boys competition for each age group, targeted by 2028;
- a player points policy to prevent the centralisation of talented players at a small number of clubs, and;
- the NTJFA to consider financial incentives for clubs to increase participants and teams, including reduced or removed fees.
Allowing senior clubs to enter junior teams is another big focus, given the NTJFA has just 12 member clubs compared to the NTFA’s 22.
NTJFA president Josh Nast is confident the changes will not only improve the experience for players, but also for volunteers and parents who have battled to get children to different venues.
“There’s a wonderful cohort of volunteers behind every club and we could see the clubs were well aligned with what we want to achieve, which is getting more boys and girls playing football,” Nast sad.
“The under eights is great. By simplifying some of those process and barriers, we’ll get more kids playing and make it easier for parents to get around the grounds.
“That administrative burden is what we need to work together with clubs on to reduce. When we do that we create a fun and enjoyable environment for everyone.”
Junior pathways, ‘TLC’ for Premier League the keys to NTFA resurgence
AFL Tasmania has made reviving the north’s junior stocks as the major priority to ensure football’s long term health in the region.
The governing body’s boss Damian Gill made no secret the strong focus is to ‘course correct’ the development pathways, but also allocate significant effort to reviving the ailing NTFA Premier League.
Gill said the aim is to ensure clubs are ‘future proofing’ themselves with strong junior programs, but also to ensure the men’s Premier League becomes competitive as soon as possible.
“We’ve just got to keep prioritising the junior pathway and strong junior clubs in the north of the state, because it hasn’t been where we want it to be from that perspective,” Gill said.
“We need more teams and more players, more strong junior clubs leading to strong senior clubs.
“We’re doing a bunch of work with the NTJFA and all their clubs, and there’ll be more to say on that soon, and the steps being put in place and the attitude of clubs has been fantastic.
“We have to attack it on two fronts, there’s the short to medium and then there’s the long term. The long term is juniors and we have to put every effort in juniors, and short to medium is making sure club structures are where they need to be, with strong investment in coaching.”
North Launceston’s men, who went unbeaten in last year’s final TSL season, strolled to the NTFA Premier League flag with a percentage of well over 500.
Fellow former State Leaguers Launceston won every game they played other than against the Bombers, while Deloraine only managed victories against winless Scottsdale.
Gill acknowledged the very lopsided scorelines were unacceptable, but was confident it will eventually be addressed.
“They (scores) are at a level no one is accepting of, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Gill said.
“We’ve got to work on long term and that’s a big focus of our job, but equally work on the short term. We are supportive of the corrective measures the NTFA have put in place (player points and salary cap concessions for Longford, South Launceston, Deloraine and Scottsdale).
“It’s been well publicised Launceston and North Launceston weren’t over the moon with the changes. But credit to them, they’ve done everything they can this year to work with other clubs and enhance the competition.
“I think they’re advocates for the competition now and that’s really healthy with how the clubs in the north work together. The leadership of (NTFA president) Peter Gutwein has been significant and I think we’re in a good spot, we have to keep working away.”
The decision to disband the TSL has brought much criticism from some quarters. But Gill insisted it wasn’t a move made lightly, with improving the north’s junior system a significant factor.
“Strong junior pathways lead to strong junior clubs, we just have to course correct a little bit,” he said.
“The unintended consequence of the TSL is the pathway was a bit truncated, and limited the growth of junior footy in a way.
“What we want to do is broaden the base and have more opportunities for kids to come through.
“We need to incentivise senior clubs to look after their patch and their juniors and bring them through. The model in the north hasn’t actually incentivised that.
“We’ve had high performing senior clubs in some competitions who had no role in juniors, which I don’t think is a healthy thing.
“That’s all part of the premier league philosophy while also acknowledging clearly the scoreboards aren’t ideal, we just have to keep chipping away.”
SCOTTSDALE AND DELORAINE’S ENDEAVOUR ‘SHOULD BE CELEBRATED’
There’s no question Scottsdale and Deloraine were thrust into the Premier League well before they’re ready to be competitive, but both clubs are working hard to bridge the gap.
That will take a few years but all six Premier League clubs have been given a three-year license until the end of 2027, with Gutwein announcing plans earlier this season to expand it to eight clubs from 2028.
Gill launched a passionate defence of the Kangaroos and Magpies, adamant their ambition in stepping up to the top level shouldn’t be a magnet for criticism.
With respect to Scottsdale and Deloraine, who have got a lot of the noise because of their senior male performances, they are busily working away at getting better and their endeavour is fantastic,” he said.
“Too often they’ve copped flak, because they’re the ones who put their hand up and are really striving for something. I think they should be celebrated and not whacked, to be honest. “They’ve got the pathway in place, they’ve invested heavily in their female programs and clearly the final piece of the puzzle is their senior men’s program.
Two clubs with big junior nurseries - Old Scotch Collegians and St Patrick’s - have told this masthead they would seriously consider putting their hand up to be part of Premier League expansion.
Gill said the initial interest this far out from any decisions being made is encouraging.
“There’s been talk of expansion and a couple of clubs who are really interested. Especially those clubs who have strong juniors, that’s attractive for the competition,” Gill said.
“Recruitment has its place. The odd recruit is good for a footy club, particularly if they’re of high values and high acumen, but it can’t be the fix in isolation and I think every club is aware of that,” Gill said.
ADDRESSING POSSIBLE PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER DRAIN
Many officials from northern clubs have expressed concerns to this masthead about the possibility of players in Premier League clubs accepting more money from division one or two teams, with the lure of less training responsibility.
The governing body has looked to address this by making it compulsory to play for a Premier League team to be eligible for representative football.
Gill said monitoring clubs and ensuring they’re adhering to rules is a process they’re always seeking to improve.
“We’ve got our club sustainability model in place which has all the player points limits and salary caps for each league state wide,” he said.
“We monitor that very regularly, we audit clubs, there’s processes in place and we continue to stay on that as much as we can.
“We put things in place not only to incentivise the best talent to be in the top competition. But also a large part of the model is making sure we’re safeguarding and future proofing clubs, and they don’t have that ‘boom or bust’ mentality where they’re spending beyond their means.”
A GREATER NORTHERN LEAGUE?
After the regional leagues were announced, North Launceston and Launceston pressed hard to gauge whether a greater northern competition featuring them and the north-west’s leading clubs was viable.
It’s a concept that’s been investigated more than once in the past, but Gill believed that concept doesn’t consider the bigger picture.
“We’ve explored it and when people float the idea, it’s looking in isolation purely on what’s best for the most talented players in those two regions,” Gill said.
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“It’s not thinking big picture in terms of what’s best for the growth of footy, the health of clubs and communities.
“Models are touted where you pluck a few clubs out of the north-west and the north, but that doesn’t take into account what it leaves behind or thinking more broadly about having a bigger base and more communities involved.
“That’s not to say it could never work, maybe there’s a world where things move and it can work. But it needs to be considered what’s best for the whole ecosystem, not just the pointy end.”
Originally published as Revealed: The grand plan to ‘supercharge’ northern junior footy
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