Working as the AFL Tasmania state development manager in 2002, Smedley was tasked with growing the game at all levels and Auskick was a big part of the overarching strategy. But it was his two nephews who inspired him to volunteer.

"One of my nephews was five when he got started in 2002, and the other followed. That was the catalyst," Smedley said.

That season he started a centre at South Launceston and it was immediately successful, with about 150 kids attending each season for the first few years.

Living in Devon Hills at the time, Smedley also ran and coached at Auskick centres at Perth and Longford and has been the Prospect Hawks Auskick centre coordinator for the past 14 years.

Smedley estimates he has coached almost 2000 children over his two decades as a volunteer, including AFL players Kade and Jake Kolodjashnij, and Rhyan Mansell.

"They are some of the highlights from the top end, but you also see scores of children going on to play youth football and state football," he said.

As well as conducting about 300 90-minute sessions over the years, Smedley also takes Auskick groups to AFL games.

"We normally do between 10 to 15 sessions every year and we try to go to an AFL game," he said.

"Auskick at the games is a real highlight. You see the kids trying hard and then the crowd just erupts."

Smedley laughed as he recalled a Hawthorn game where a seven-year-old Auskick participant tried kicking a goal from an acute angle.

"The crowd realised what was going on and he kicked the banana, and the crowd erupted," Smedley said.

AFL Tasmanian regional manager Aaron Roberts said Smedley's contribution to the game in the North had been astounding, both getting new children engaged and excited by the sport and also nurturing the children to ensure they stay and become life-long footballers.

"Daniel is always proactive and willing to find new opportunities for children, and he delivers one of the most effective Auskick programs in Launceston," he said.

Smedley is also a committee member of the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame, and an umpire and umpiring coach with the Northern Tasmanian Football Umpires Association.

An increase in participation among young girls is one of the biggest changes Smedley has seen in recent years at the Prospect Hawks Junior Football Club.

"This year we had a really strong group of girls come in, which is really positive and that's an area we want to keep building on," he said.

Involved with the Prospect Hawks since its inception in 2006, Smedley said he felt very positive about what the club had done to provide opportunities for girls to play.

"We provide financial support as a club, so they can try footy and it's affordable. We want them to be part of it and fully embrace it. We engage with the schools in the area and to just be part of the club," he said.

"It's that next generation that is going to be more and more exciting. Having the girls involved so young means it'll be their chosen sport which is more positive."

Just as Smedley was considering throwing in the towel on his Auskick journey in 2015, his son Malachie offered to help coach. "Malachie is in Grade 11 and he is thinking he will do it for another year, so I will probably do it for at least another year too," Smedley said.

The father of two also coaches the Hawks' under-14s boys' team that his youngest son Isaac plays in.

In different ways, football has created a special bond with his sons. They not only enjoy a father-son relationship, but they also umpire together, coach together and navigate the coach-player dynamic. Luckily, Smedley's wife Julie also likes footy, but the family does look forward to packing up when the season ends.

When Smedley isn't on the footy field he's studying nursing or working as an assistant in nursing at the LGH. "My wife is a nurse as well. We had a thought that, once the boys finish their school commitments, we could tour around as there are health professionals needed all over Australia," he said.