Ahead of North Launceston president Thane Brady and Tigers president Paul Gadomski’s meeting with the AFL-led steering committee on Wednesday, all seven State League bosses have released a public letter.
The reason why the Tasmanian State League must stay as part of the football landscape in Tasmania is simple; it is a strong, emerging competition that is starting to reap results for the investment made in it.
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All the TSL clubs are financially viable.
The TSL is a large critical mass of football talent and it is important to the local economy.
Across the seven TSL clubs in the state we collectively turnover in excess of $4 million.
Much of this money is spent in regional economies through businesses that rely on the support they receive from their local TSL club.
Collectively across the state there are 105 people who are employed in some capacity through their local TSL club, many of these people heavily rely on this income to make ends meet.
Throughout the state the TSL clubs are invested in Auskick 2.0, juniors, under 18s, development league, women’s football and of course Senior men’s football.
Combined, all clubs, excluding Auskick 2.0, have 2716 players registered in their programs.
Our clubs have 102 young men that are part of AFL Tasmania academies, our Mariners went through undefeated this year and 13 boys have been selected for the Allies squad.
The Mariners program has an important role to play in developing our young players but they don’t become good footballers overnight.
The role that their TSL clubs play and our great footy programs are critical to their development and that point was acknowledged recently in an email that Marcus Ashcroft sent to all TSL clubs.
The AFL commits $1.3m of funding into the TSL but only $750,000 of this makes it to the TSL landscape as the balance goes into AFL Tasmania for administration, umpiring and associated game costs, that means that the AFL invest only $276.14 per player registered to a TSL club.
We also need to keep front of mind that none of that investment which is very small per capita is filtering into North West Coast football.
There are many opinions on the TSL but it is very clear to all involved in the competition that opinions are changing and the support to grow and evolve the TSL is mounting like never seen before in Tasmania.
If the TSL goes we will see many of the state’s best players poached by mainland competitions and a number of our coaches will be poached too because they will want to work in footy competitions that challenge them.
The demise of the TSL would rip the heart out of Tasmanian football and surely that cannot be an intention of the Steering Committee.
Amongst the senior group of players there are 504 young men and a few not so young and 160 women who put their hand up for senior selection each week.
These men and women have a basic right to be afforded the opportunity to play in a quality standard state league much the same as their counterparts do around the entire country.
These young men and women choose to play TSL and TSLW because they want to be the best they can be in their chosen sport, they want to be challenged each week, they want to make the commitment to the challenge and in return we owe it to them to not only give them the opportunity and choice; we owe it to them to provide top quality coaches, umpires, facilities and support staff.
We owe it to all people involved in the TSL system right through from Auskick to seniors and the army of volunteers that support the clubs, to not only provide them with the choice to play in a state league but acknowledge their right to be able to do it in their own state.
Tasmania needs to cater for all levels of footballers.
Men and women deserve the choice of competition that suits their specific football aspirations, their time commitments, their lifestyles and families.
All footballers in Tasmania want choice from the top end talent that could be drafted to the young Auskicker that wants to grow up and play 200 senior games for his or her local community TSL club, many of which have been in existence for over 100 years.
AFL and AFL Tasmania, it’s time to invest in Tasmanian footballers; men and women who have grown up in a football heartland and who love the game.
It’s time to work with Tasmanian football stakeholders to evolve the TSL to football best practice with complete linkages into talent pathways, coach and umpire development and a solid platform to work towards an AFL career for those that want to.
AFL Docklands it’s time for Tasmania to get its fair share and for you to invest properly in growing the game here.
It’s also time to realise that not everyone that plays AFL football in Tasmania wants to be drafted, what they want is a Tasmanian State League.
