The mental health organisation came up with the idea of donning shorts on the shortest day of the year to get the conversation flowing, with more than 1200 Tasmanians registering and normalising speaking up.

NTFA outfits East Coast, St Pats, Meander Valley, Lilydale and Old Launcestonians are all behind the cause, with Speak Up! Stay ChatTY project manager Kylea Aldred happy to be working with the 20-club association.

"We know that footy players are running around in shorts all the time, so they are always braving the cold but what we want to partner with that is that now we can brave the conversation as well," she said.

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As a part of the Speak Up! Stay ChatTY sports program, Aldred and the team go to clubs all year round, speaking about mental health, how to help a teammate and finding the signs and symptoms associated.

"The clubs have been fantastic and I think we've had some really good feedback from the clubs," she said.

"They've really enjoyed having us come in, they've learned stuff that they haven't known before, they've built on stuff that they have already known.

"They've then been able to open up the conversation with their team members and people in the community about what's happening in mental health."

Lilydale recently had the organisation in its club, with Jack Venn singing Aldred's praises.

"It was a massive learning curve for us, not so much about your own problems but how to help your mates out as well," he said.

"[It's a conversation] that hasn't happened too much because you're meant to be footballers, meant to be tough but having Kylea come out and talk about it makes it a lot easier and everyone came away with something new."