Review of Australian FootballSouthern Region, Tasmania

Sustainability, Growth and PartnershipsThree keys to our success

Presented by:Barry GibsonGeneral ManagerTasmanian Football Council

May 2015

FINAL

Background – Southern Region Review

The SFL and AFL Tasmania sought the assistance of football stakeholders in the Southern Region to provide feedback on the state of the game in Southern Tasmania

A consultation process was conducted with football stakeholders from all clubs and competitions to provide a basic framework for future planning for the sport in the region

The consultation process comprised two parts – a survey and a forum

Background – Southern Region Review

The Southern Region Football Review was one of three regional football reviews conducted in 2014/15 by AFL Tasmania and the three leading regional football bodies the NWFL, NTFA and SFL. The outcomes of the Review form the basis for the first strategic plan of the Tasmanian Football Council.

All reports aim to provide future planning recommendations that will contribute to the overall health of the sport throughout the state’s regional communities with a focus on Sustainability, Growth and Partnerships

It is envisaged that a regional consultative process with football stakeholders will occur every 3-4 years

Key Outcomes– Southern Region Survey

The survey (16 separate questions) was sent to every football club and league in Southern Tasmania and the return/response rate was approximately 50%

The most significant outcome revolved around the two questions:

Question no. 1 Which of the following best describes your competition?

Strong and secure (13% of respondents)

Generally in good shape (26%)

Going ok, but has some real concerns that need to be addressed (26%)

Struggling to survive (35%)

This means 61% of respondents are concerned at best

Question no. 5 In respect to the future of football in the region, what comment best describes your views?

No respondent answered that the game is strong and nothing needs to change, and;

Only one (1) respondent answered that the game is going ok and I can’t see any need to change much at all

Almost 60% answered that problems definitely exist, and something definitely needs to change (but not sure how this can be achieved)

The above would indicate that the majority of the Southern Football community may be seeking direction, guidance and advice from the leaders of the game

Key Outcomes– Southern Region Forum

Community Forum Outcomes

Auskick:

Lack of participation, no longer acceptable for one solitary Auskick clinic per club

Who’s responsible, how can it be resourced?

Youth U/18 Football:

Described as ok, however the multi comp approach to U18’s that has been present for several years around Hobart is not acceptable

Open Age Football:

Collapse of regional economies, and the resulting shortage of available youth to participate in local footy is creating issues for numerous regional clubs

Exploration around a new ‘tiered’ or multi regional competition’s needs consideration; Hobart based TSL clubs are welcome to get involved in this discussing this topic

Key Outcomes– Southern Region Forum

Community Forum Outcomes - Continued:

TSL: The football family supports the TSL as a development pathway

Further clarity surrounding the purpose of the TSL is needed; buzz words like ‘centres of excellence’, ‘development pathways’ and ‘growing the next generation of coaches and football leader’s etc.. aren’t understood; they need to be defined

There is no clarity regarding the TSL exit door, i.e. players back to regional clubs

TSL clubs at the forum mentioned that they are determined to keep their two team state league structure (plus of course they want to retain U/18’s)

Governance: The TFC is responsible for all of community footy and as such must be resourced

appropriately in order to deliver on its constitutional responsibilities

Centralised Southern Football management and competition structures needs consideration and development

Background – the Tasmanian Football Council

Within a relatively short period of time the Tasmanian Football Council (TFC) will become the leaders of community football in Tasmania, in partnership with the AFL, through AFL Tasmania.

The TFC is an entity which has been established by the NWFL (North-West), NTFA (North) and SFL (South), and endorsed by the AFL, with the specific intent to ensure that Tasmania’s three regions have a more relevant voice when it comes to the future direction of Australian Football in Tasmania.

The role of the TFC has no involvement competition administration; the TFC is concerned with community football leadership and influence in areas such as:

Planning for the future

Participation (protecting and growing the game)

Talent identification, incorporating representative football

Development and education

Community engagement

In 2014/15 AFL Tasmania undertook separate reviews of the game in each region. These three regional review reports form the basis of the TFC’s first Strategic Plan.

Executive Summary – Southern ReviewAustralian Football in the Southern region of Tasmania is secure, even though some uncertainty definitely exists. The game remains popular in terms of participation, public interest and community relevance.

In Southern Tasmania the game has the opportunity to grow and prosper over the next decade. In the North and North-West protecting what currently exists is the priority, but in the South club and league administrators should pursue growth opportunities rather than just focusing on maintenance of the status quo. This is not to say that significant challenges exist in some communities and at some clubs, but in general terms the game can grow and prosper in Southern Tasmania.

The key to maximising the growth opportunities in the region will be the capacity of club and competition leaders to work together and have the courage to change.

Our review recommendations are:

1. Define the SFL’s role as the peak body for community football in the region

2. Invite the two other open-age football competitions in Southern Tasmania to immediately affiliate with the SFL

3. Explore the establishment of a legitimate community club competition for the Kingborough/Huon district that feeds into the Tigers TSL program; a competition that is also a division of the SFL

4. Explore the establishment of a new football club in the Brighton municipality; a club that caters for the growing community in and around Old Beach (incorporating Bridgewater and Gagebrook)

5. The SFL, STJFL and the five Southern based TSL clubs to explore the most appropriate pathway from under 16’s into senior football in the Southern region

6. The Tasmanian Football Umpires Association (TFUA) to become the Southern Football League Umpires Association (SFLUA)

7. The Southern football ‘family’ should come together twice a year in workshop type forums to discuss development opportunities, specifically in respect to increasing participation and knowledge building – these workshops should be focused on growing the game as distinct from people simply raising the “issues of the day”

Recommendations in detailRecommendation 1:

Define the SFL’s role as the peak body for community football in the region

Restructuring the governance and management of the SFL is the first priority

The structure of the SFL Board should encompass Board positions and sub-committees that focus on the following:- Competition operations- Junior/youth pathway and participation growth (inc. AFL Auskick)- Affiliate bodies - Umpiring and umpiring development- Commercial operations- Finance and administration

The SFL should take the lead, and work cooperatively with affiliate bodies on building the concept of a central headquarters and shared administration model for Southern football (preferably at North Hobart Oval)

Given the current structure of football at a regional level, it is important that the STJFL, OSFA, ODFA and TFUA acknowledge the leadership role that the AFL (via AFL Tasmania) has encouraged the NWFL, NTFA and SFL to embrace and therefore the SFL will be supported to become the legitimate leaders of football in the Southern region

AFL Tasmania has no intention of creating another governance model that sits above, or outside, of the SFL

Recommendations in detailRecommendation 2:

Invite the two other open-age football competitions in Southern Tasmania to immediately affiliate with the SFL

The leaders of the SFL and AFL Tasmania believe that now is an ideal time for the OSFA, ODFA, STJFL, Umpires and SFL to get their heads together to ensure that these competitions have the best opportunity to grow and prosper

Further to the above, the opportunity for a shared services business and operations model concerning the management of senior football competitions in the South should benefit all stakeholders

Central Admin

SFL

STJFL

OSFA

ODFA

Umpires

Recommendations in detailRecommendation 3:

Explore the establishment of a legitimate community club competition for the Kingborough/Huon district that feeds into the Tigers TSL program; a competition that is also a division of the SFL

The Kingborough/Huon district of Southern Tasmania has the potential to become the most vibrant and healthy football environment in Tasmania – but – the current structure of the game in this district is in needs of new solutions to enable this to occur

An alternative for the Kingborough/Huon district is to do nothing new; however, the view of football leaders in the South is that doing nothing would be negligent

If the above recommendation isn’t achievable then it is quite possible that the Cygnet Football Club may go down the same path as Kermandie or be forced to consider working with Huonville to form a Huon Valley SFL club (a club that probably plays games at both Cygnet and Huonville)

The structure of cricket in the Kingborough/Huon district is an example of what can be achieved if the focus is on community and participation, not necessarily quality of the competition

When exploring this recommendation new football teams could and should be considered (potentially established out of existing cricket clubs), including the structure of the competition, e.g. one-team unpinned by juniors?

This district could also explore a football/netball structure similar to that which works successfully in country Victoria

Recommendations in detailRecommendation 4:

Explore the establishment of a new football club in the Brighton municipality; a club that caters for the growing community in and around Old Beach (incorporating Bridgewater and Gagebrook)

The leadership of the STJFL, SFL and AFL Tasmania to seek the support of the Brighton Council and other relevant community groups to become part of a project team that will take responsibility for both developing and implementing a plan for this project

The priority will be to begin the ‘new club’ from the bottom-up, i.e. starting with school-based and community-based AFL Auskick, then move into forming junior football teams, then onto youth teams and hopefully then into a senior team

Significant investment would be required to develop a new venue close to Old Beach or to significantly upgrade the existing oval at Old Beach

Starting a new football club in this municipality should have little impact on the current Brighton junior and senior football programs ; a new football club for the Brighton municipality is considered well overdue

Recommendations in detail

Recommendation 5:

The SFL, STJFL and the five Southern based TSL clubs to explore the most appropriate pathway from under 16’s into senior football in the Southern region

The reality in the South (similar to the Northern region) is that the pathway from upper age group youth football into open-age football is fractured

The leaders of football in Southern Tasmania all agree that the pathway from under 16’s into under 18’s and then onto senior football needs to be improved; however, the opinions on exactly what the right pathway should be is varied and inconsistent

This particular subject matter needs to be driven by the respective club and competition leaders (not by AFL Tasmania - refer footnote below)

Footnote:

The pathway from youth football into open-age football in Tasmania is not ideal and many senior football clubs are struggling for numbers/players (all three regions)

The administrators of football in Tasmania would all generally agree with the above statement and this has been the situation for many years now. Some junior club administrations simply don’t care what happens to the player pathway post players leaving their competition. Some senior clubs seem to expect young players to just turn up to their club without the club having any genuine engagement or contact with young players that may consider a move from junior competitions into senior competitions.

Recommendations in detail

Recommendation 6:

The Tasmanian Football Umpires Association (TFUA) to become the Southern Football League Umpires Association (SFLUA)

In today’s football environment , umpiring will only improve if football clubs and competitions assume leadership responsibility for umpiring – stand alone umpiring associations (similar to the TFUA) aren’t likely to prosper into the future

It is strongly recommended that the leaders of the TFUA and SFL explore the opportunities to come together as one (AFL Tasmania would be willing to facilitate if requested to do so)

In the South the time is probably right for each football competition to have their own dedicated umpiring association

Recommendations in detailRecommendation 7:

The Southern football ‘family’ should come together twice a year in workshop type forums to discuss development opportunities, specifically in respect to increasing participation and knowledge building –these workshops should be focused on growing the game as distinct from people simply raising the “issues of the day”

These workshops, which should be SFL initiated, may initially start with small numbers; however, with consistency and perseverance the long term benefits will become obvious to all stakeholders and they should become ‘must attend’ events

The structure of the workshop could begin by splitting the group into TSL development zone segments whereby the development and growth opportunities are identified by zone and then fed into a regional summary

These workshops should also incorporate facility development and facility sharing opportunities, e.g. better utilisation of school ovals for the community – Clarence High School being a great example

The suggested workshop timing is (say):- 1st one; late January/early February annually (a few months prior to the start of each season)- 2nd; late August/early September (just on finals time – the focus being on the following season)

The Hydro Tasmania Football Leadership Conference will be held in early November annually and supported by affiliated club and competition leaders