A new era for premier community football in Northern Tasmania is here, with the six participating clubs revealed following a detailed assessment process.
Deloraine, Longford, Scottsdale and South Launceston, along with Launceston and North Launceston, will compete in the NTFA Premier League for men and women in 2025.
“This is an exciting time for football in Northern Tasmania, and on the back of the euphoria of last Monday’s official launch of our Tasmanian AFL team” said NTFA President, Damien Rhind.
“The clubs were selected through a process managed by a five-person selection panel that included two AFL Tasmania staff members, two NTFA Board members and an independent member with an AFL club background and experience in other community sport.”
“During the process a review into competition models around Australia was undertaken; it was determined that our AFL team is best underpinned by VFL, VFLW and now three regional premier leagues.”
competition. There were nine overarching criteria with the following criteria prioritised: committee personnel, financial resource, capacity to field teams in proposed premier competitions, boys’ and girls’ junior pathways, infrastructure and sustainability.”
“It was a thorough process and made for a difficult decision for the selection panel. There was strong interest and ambition from within the NTFA clubs and the difficult decision to determine the participating clubs is a credit to the clubs, their leaders, and the hard work they put into their applications,” said AFL Tasmania Community Football Manager, Tom Barwick.
“The successful clubs were identified through a comprehensive selection process, as those that best met the criteria and standards set for the Premier League.
“All clubs demonstrated areas of strength and highlighted areas for development ahead of their entry into the Premier League. The NTFA and AFL Tasmania will work closely with each club ahead of their entry. The development of clubs will be aligned to the assessment criteria and newly defined standards for the Premier competition”, said Mr Rhind.
The defined Premier League’s standards will be available to all clubs, and AFL Tasmania will support willing clubs not within the Premier League in delivering on these standards.
“A strong northern premier league will revive more local rivalries and provide opportunity for more northern clubs to support the development of more players through to senior football, and support the talent pathways programs that the Tasmania Devils will provide for Tasmanian Football.”
“AFL Tasmania want more girls and boys, men and women playing football in Northern Tasmania, and we believe a strong Northern Premier League can play an important role in growing the game.”
“The clubs selected cover the entire Northern region, with strong pathways improving the accessibility of Premier League football in the North of the state.”
“Each club has a junior boys’ and girls’ pathway that has them on a strong footing to grow and sustain a successful premier league club into the future.”
“AFL Tasmania is looking forward to supporting the clubs in what will be a new chapter in the long and storied histories of these clubs, Mr Barwick added.”