Youngsters reach for the stars
Last year we had 35 girls try out … This year we will have just over 200 and have more than 35 in each of the locations. It is unbelievable the growth in female participation North Melbourne football operations manager LAURA KANE
YOUNG Tasmanian footballers have swamped Next Generation Academy trails across the state. In fact the response has been so strong that the AFL has been on the phone asking why.
The answer provided by AFL Tasmania is simple — the state’s passion and love for the indigenous game.
This week, North Melbourne talent managers have been across the state eyeing off more than 700 Tasmanian 11 to 15-year-olds for its football academy, including 313 at Moonah Sports Centre yesterday.
It is more than last year’s inaugural intake and almost five times more than any other academy nationwide.
And leading the charge is female participation on the back of the first AFLW season, North Melbourne’s football operations manager Laura Kane says.
“Last year we had 35 girls try out and we selected all of them into our Next Generation Academy,” she said.
“This year we will have just over 200 and have more than 35 in each of the locations. It is unbelievable the growth in female participation.”
She said across the country, 30 per cent of Next Generation Academy registrations were from Tasmania.
It all bodes well for the Kangaroos-AFL Tasmania joint AFLW submission for 2019 to be announced next month, which Kane said would have a strong Tasmanian content.
“We are working through that at the moment with AFL Tasmania and the State Government to look at what options we could go with — whether it is the name or visibly representing Tasmania,” she said.
“We love being involved down here and supporting grassroots football.
“I would love to be able to visually represent that as well.”
From the participants, about 300 will be selected for an eight-week elite program that will include coaching and education from North Melbourne staff.
AFL Tasmania state talent manager Jy Bond said the tryouts were an opportunity to find the diamonds in the rough.
“We are trying to get them into our net very early, so we can start working them, get them into our elite programs, part of this NGA and right through to our Mariners programs,” he said.