Strikers share their vision for state soccer

Smith, who will be part of a working group that has been established to look over the recommendations that have come from the three regional forums which were held last month, said the reigning NPL Tasmania champs had made some "extensive suggestions" in regards to the NPL Tasmania, Women's Super League and Northern Championship independent of that initial process.

"We still believe that it is important that we have an NPL competition, but our recommendation that it should again be an eight team competition,'' he said.

"This would have one team from the North-West, two from North and five from the South of the state and we believe there shouldn't be a relegation and promotion system in place, as we don't believe there is enough infrastructure and talent in the state to support that, as well as the wide gap between the NPL clubs and other competitions."

Travel, especially its impact on the Northern clubs, is also a big part of the Strikers' pitch.

"Obviously that is a key issue for us, and we are suggesting an eight team competition would again be a 21 game roster, with the North and North-West teams having 11 home games, which would allow for the fact that they have significantly increased travel requirements as compared to the Southern clubs,'' he said.

A three year license agreement with criteria set for teams to stay in the competition and a "two import model" per club are some of the other suggestions.

In regards to the Women's Super League, Smith said the club was keen for it to be a six team competition with one team from the North-West, one team from the North and four from the South, with issues of promotion/relegation, travel and meeting criteria also relevant in that competition.

"It is incredibly important we have a pathway when it comes to women's soccer, so we need to have teams from the North and the North-West,'' he said.

When it came to the Northern Championship, Smith said the Strikers were supportive of the current structure of that competition with seniors, women's and under 18s. The idea of an under 16 competition and more alignment of matches with home NPL games is also part of the Strikers' plans.

Smith said the ideas had been provided to Riverside and Launceston City, and he added that his club had the support of its Northern neighbours.