Tasmanian sport, families the winners of Ticket To Play policy

A Ticket to Play voucher provides $100 towards registration at various sporting clubs across Tasmania.

The number of sports available expanded in 2023 with the initiative reaching over 40 and costing about $850,000 per annum.

This is taxpayers' money well spent.

Regional sporting clubs were, and in some cases still are, the lifeblood of communities but those communities are changing and large clubs with modern infrastructure are more likely to be found in cities rather than regional towns.

This is the saddening reality of a demographic shift that has seen jobs centralised as traditional industries have either ceased operation or significantly downsized.

Consequently, not a week goes by where a football club isn't struggling for player numbers, has gone into recess, or has made the decision to have either senior or junior players for the upcoming season.

Further, this is not just experienced by football clubs; it also includes many other sports and governing bodies across Tasmania.

It was well over a decade ago that the following statistics were cited in a report titled: 'The Value of Sport and Physical Recreation to Tasmania'.

"It is exciting because it quantifies the contribution of volunteers in sport and recreation and indicates 36,500 Tasmanian volunteers contribute over three million hours of work each year, the equivalent of nearly 1800 full-time jobs," the report found.

"The expenditure in sport and recreation and the jobs this generates shows that sport and recreation is a significant industry in Tasmania, directly contributing $819.3 million to the economy (3.6 per cent of gross state product) and enables the employment of over 13,000 people. For every $1 invested, Tasmania receives over $4 in benefits, with the combined annual value of these benefits conservatively estimated to be $5.6 billion."

One can only think that this contribution has increased significantly but differently as many larger clubs, now participating at a semi-professional level, continue to pour in countless hours of unpaid work complemented by some paid employment.

And as the professionalisation of sport has continued to expand, even at a grassroots level, so has the cost of doing sporting business.

Many clubs now employ part-time staff to complete roles that were once filled by volunteers.

In some ways it has to do with more work and less time, but it also has a lot to do with the complexity of running a sporting organisation.

Once upon a time it was tradespeople who were desperately required yet now it is just as likely to be lawyers, accountants, and public servants who are well-versed in the narrative of grant writing.

And with employment comes contracts and increased costs, key performance indicators, and sponsors who, quite rightly, require return on investment.

In many ways, the young people in clubs are the winners of this new way of sporting being but their families may be the losers.

The semi-professionalism of clubs including academy and acceleration-style opportunities are expensive with some registration and course fees reaching $1000 per year.

This is confounded by the fact that traditional winter sports are now played all-year round with the season finishing in early September and the new preseason starting in late November.

Not that long ago participants played a summer and winter sport, football and cricket for example. Sadly, this is not the new way of being for a young sportsperson.

For sports like soccer the desire to play 12-months round has been a long time in the making, but it is now ingrained due to increased social and traditional media coverage along with far more accessible streaming services.

Fortunately, initiatives like Ticket to Play provide opportunities for young people and their families to engage and participate.

For it is those with rare ability, those hidden gems, who would not be uncovered if it wasn't for a program that aims to equalise the playing field; to provide opportunities to participate in what would have been unaffordable and unattainable for families where money is scarce.

And for those who just want to participate, to engage with friends as equals, and to enjoy the experiences and challenges that sport offers, a Ticket to Play makes a difference.

But for me, it is the new Australians, those who have arrived on Visas or as refugees escaping unthinkable hardship where funding means the most, providing an experience to mix and share and learn and appreciate whilst at the same time teaching those born in our state to experience the same.

They bring their passion for the game, and we bring our passion for teaching, harnessing what remains important, and moulding it in a way where success in a new country, a new culture, and a new way of being becomes the norm.

The Ticket to Play initiative has been a vital recurrent funding decision by the state government, not just important for sport and participation but just as significantly for our quickly and vastly changing communities.

Notwithstanding the challenges that modern sporting clubs face, long may it continue.