Tough ask to build young footy ranks

Drop in AFL-mad teachers pushed focus from schools to clubs, says Mike Percey

THE new Football Tasmania board has suggested the return of high school football ( Mercury, November 26).

It is strange that the reasons given for the return of high school football (lifting the state’s male participation rates), were the primary reasons for junior football to transition from school-based competition to community club-based football competition in the early 1990s.

The late Bob Newton and myself worked closely with the then TFL director of junior football, Gary Davidson, to review junior football in Southern Tasmania. This resulted in the transition from high school football to community — competitions and also the introduction of modified rules up to under-12s and the introduction of Auskick for up to 6-year-olds.

Prior to this review, there were declining numbers of boys in the 13-16 years group participating in the high school competitions. The reasons included the increased popularity of soccer and hockey competing for players, and also the reducing number of high schools that were fielding AFL football teams.

As is apparent, the numbers required for an AFL team is about 24 to 26 players which allows for players’ injuries, sickness and absences for other reasons, while hockey and soccer only require about 13-14 players to be available.

For a high school to participate in the four age group competitions (Under 13s, 14s, 15s and Opens) then a school would require about 100 boys interested in representing their school each week, during the winter.

Any potential players, whose school did not participate for any reason, would miss out on playing football for up to four years, until they played club football in senior competitions.

Up until the 1990s, school football teams were frequently coached or organised by a male PE teacher who often had a football background or an interest in AFL football. These committed teachers started to decline for several reasons. Teachers began to value their free time over the weekends and no longer wished to commit every Saturday to coaching etc.

Female and other PE teachers, who had little or no interest in AFL football, mainly because they had a greater interest in other sports, came into the education system in larger numbers. It was hard to find these “centre of influence” and “committed to AFL football” teachers who were prepared to support school AFL football teams.

It was for these reasons that community clubs, who had already organised the primary school aged competitions, decided to commit resources to the 13-16 year-old competitions.

The benefits were that any player who was interested in playing AFL football could find a local community club to play with, and usually in their age group. These clubs most likely had a good infrastructure including accredited coaches and good committees; were financially sustainable and had many committed parents to assist in fundraising, team management and support.

While it is great that the new board proposes to look at male participation rates, I would think that their proposal to go back to schoolbased football may be “kicking against the wind” in this regard.

Mike Percey is a life member and past president of the Kingston Junior Football Club, life member of the Kingborough Tigers, past director of junior football at the Southern Cats FC and past secretary of the Sandy Bay, Kingston, Eastern Shore Junior Football Association.