Let the kids dream big

WITH all the effort that’s gone into reigniting Tasmanians’ participation in football, it’s deflating to learn we will be the only state or territory not represented in Australian rules at this year’s School Sport Australia championships.

It was only a couple of years ago that AFL Tasmania was in crisis talks with state league clubs as teams in the North-West threatened to leave the TSL and the Mercury revealed a nosedive in participation rates and launched a Save Our Footy campaign in response.

We took aim at the AFL bigwigs and told them on no uncertain terms that, despite being a heartland state, Tasmania was being taken for granted.

Money was flowing hand over fist to Queensland and NSW to try to grow new markets and spread the sport across the country. The Melbourne-based administrators forgot AFL couldn’t be a truly national code if it lost one of its founders in Tasmania.

To his credit, AFL boss Gillon McLachlan responded by setting up a steering committee that delivered some key outcomes for the state.

Youth talent pathways were strengthened, a future plan for the sport in the state was put in place and a little more cash was thrown our way. With a plan to save footy in the short term, Tasmanians, from the Premier down to the players, were able to turn their focus from survival mode to dreaming big.

GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE SPORT ACROSS EVERY REGION IN TASMANIA

Could Tasmania have its very own AFL team? It’s been a year since Mr McLachlan reignited hopes of a Tasmanian AFL and AFLW team after he sat alongside another 5000 fans at North Hobart oval, the spiritual home of Tasmanian football, to watch the North Melbourne Kangaroos thump Carlton in the state’s first ever AFLW game.

“My mind has always wandered there,” the football supremo told the Mercury.

“It is just working through the challenges.” There is no doubt in our minds our state could and should continue to fight for the future of footy and that having our very own team is more than a pipedream.

But when Mr McLachlan talked about challenges, our kids missing out on competing on the national stage because of an argument about funding is a perfect example of how we must do better to keep our backyard in order if we want our dreams to become reality.

AFL Tasmania previously paid for boys and girls to compete at the School Sport Australia championships but decided it would no longer fund the trip, infuriating parents and disappointing enthusiastic boys and girls keen to make their mark.

The organisation has said the trip should be funded by the Department of Education to bring the arrangement in line with the rest of the country which, on the face of it, sounds fair enough.

But the department has said the money has been pulled without AFL Tasmania telling anyone it was doing so. We would hope this miscommunication is fairly simple to iron out.

Grassroots football is the foundation of the sport across every region in Tasmania.

Let the kids play.

Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Jenna Cairney, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000