North Launceston Football Club is concerned Launceston City Council’s lack of “planning and investment” in adequate sporting facilities will jeopardise its programs.
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However, council general manager Michael Stretton hit back by saying its grounds are among the best in the state.
Northern Bombers president Thane Brady said his club, which is a primary user of the UTAS Stadium and Invermay Park precinct along with Old Launcestonians and Mowbray Cricket Club, is being pushed aside.
The club’s seniors and juniors train at Rocherlea Oval until a time in March when Invermay Park finishes with cricket and maintenance is carried out.
Brady said the council’s decision to close the upgraded oval on Fridays would impact its junior and girls programs.
Brady said with the planned closure, plus the normal roping off of sections such as the centre square, goals and grandstand wing, their two under-12 and two under-14 teams would need to train on the ground with their girls and under-18s sides – more than 150 players sharing a third of the ground on Wednesday afternoons.
Its under-9, under-10 and under-13 girls teams will be training on the equestrian field, avoiding the controversially installed concrete wicket.
He said Fridays would help alleviate the congested schedule, however, North has been left with no choice but to try and find an alternative venue such as University Oval or Rocherlea.
“The council has refused to make Fridays available and indicated Mondays the ground will close after our home games and-or bad weather,” Brady said.
“A lot of the problems with senior football in Tasmania currently arise from having more senior teams than junior teams.
“With the introduction of TSLW and AFLW and after the AFL has injected more resources into visiting primary schools player registrations are increasing.
“It will take time to fix the player shortage, however, without grounds to train and play on our juniors will leave for other activities.
“The council is failing to adequately plan for all sporting codes’ needs for grounds in Launceston, and with all of the money spent on Invermay Park redevelopment, we have gained no additional training time.”
Brady said North pays full rent for Invermay Park and equestrian field and has had to hire Rocherlea Oval for pre-season training.
“The council’s hire policy for Rocherlea as an example is a joke. We have to hire the ground but it doesn't come with a toilet,” he said.
“For that privilege we pay another $50. The Windsor Park facility investment offers far more opportunities for the junior sports people.
“As an example, AFL Tasmania has moved their high-performance program away from UTAS and Invermay Park to Windsor Park.”
Stretton said North Launceston’s access to the council’s high-standard facilities made them the envy of other clubs.
Stretton said maintenance that restricts access to the grounds was necessary from time to time, which has been communicated to all users.
“We currently have no training scheduled at Invermay Park on Fridays, but we will accommodate all NLFC sessions,” he said,
“We're continuing to liaise with some user groups who are concerned about the newly-installed junior cricket wicket on the multi-sports ground.
“We also only have the same limited amount of space to work with. At the same time, we're seeing increasing demand from various clubs and sports codes.
“This is one of the reasons we're developing a regional recreational strategy.”
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
