Kids are flocking to football in Tasmania’s north-west, with one club reporting its biggest junior sign-ups in years as excitement builds around the state’s new AFL team.
Somerset Football Club launched its first junior teams this season after years without youth players, attracting more than 60 kids to new Auskick and Superkick programmes run with the local school.
“These junior teams have changed the dynamic of our club,” said president Curtis McGlone.
“Introducing these kids into the NWFL has been a great thing for our players on and off the field.”
The growth comes as the AFL pumps $360 million into Tasmania ahead of the Devils’ debut, with $126 million set aside for grassroots development over the next decade.
AFL Tasmania has already used some of that funding to bring on new staff, including a junior competition manager who helped Somerset get their youth program off the ground.
According to the Tasmania Football Club, the north-west is leading the country in uptake of the AFL’s Superkick program.
Despite being the state’s smallest region, it accounts for 4% of national participation.
Girls are driving much of the growth. The club says some centres report female participation rates above 45% and the number of girls playing Superkick in the north-west has more than doubled in just 12 months.
Participation and programs manager Payton Connell said the Devils’ brand is reaching kids who have never shown an interest in sport before.
“The biggest role the Devils’ brand has played in the north-west has been giving kids a real pathway and something to aspire to,” she said.
“That’s helped boost engagement across the board and it’s also kids who have never really resonated with football or any form of sport before.”
