Tasmania misses out as FIFA Women's World Cup training base

Having already seen UTAS Stadium rejected as a venue for games in the tournament, Tasmania this week learned it would also miss out as a training base for competing nations.

Launceston United's Birch Avenue and the Northern Tasmanian Junior Soccer Association's headquarters at Churchill Park had both been shortlisted as potential bases along with Lightwood Park at Kingborough.

However, when FIFA announced teams' base camps, all Tasmanian venues were absent.

Football Tasmania, Launceston United, City of Launceston and the NTJSA all hoped the state could still have a role to play in the Southern Hemisphere's first hosting of the tournament.

The council also confirmed that all upgrades planned for the city's two venues would still go ahead on schedule despite them missing out on World Cup involvement.

"Overall, we're obviously disappointed not only for Churchill Park but that none of the Tasmanian sites were selected," NTJSA president Linette Venn said.

"But for Australia to host a Women's World Cup is very exciting and we should not lose sight of that and hope that will bring more women and men into grass-roots soccer in Tasmania."

Launceston United president Anthony Coulson said the writing was on the wall from the moment UTAS Stadium failed to land any matches.

"With our geographical location, when we missed out on hosting a match or two it made it difficult to be a base camp," he said. "That meant we were up against it and it's definitely disappointing to hear that, but it's still an exciting time for soccer next year."

Football Tasmania chief executive Matt Bulkeley added: "While Tasmania has not been selected to host a base camp, we are optimistic about the prospect of hosting pre-tournament matches and training camps in the lead-up to the event.

"We are also pleased to see the upgrades progressing at Valley Road (Devonport), Lightwood Park, Birch Avenue and Churchill Park."

Churchill Park has had two new grounds installed on the venue's old car park although work on new lights and an upgrade to the main building has not been completed.

Six new towers are being installed on the new western ground and two more on the southern ground while the main ground at Birch Avenue is to get two new light towers.

Coulson said Birch Avenue's new lighting is on schedule for a completion date of March 31 although other facility upgrades including a new changeroom building, drainage works, fencing and the addition of a junior pitch are behind schedule.

Venn said the NTJSA had a meeting planned with council next week to get an update on how work is progressing, saying there was no indication the training base rejection would affect the timeframe.

"With the hope for the base camp there were some upgrades planned and we would very much like to see that they will be finalised as a project run by City of Launceston," she said.

"We would like to see that completed on schedule for the commencement of our junior season next year."

Launceston Mayor Danny Gibson confirmed this would be the case.

"The reality is these upgrades were planned regardless of our status as a potential training camp venue, which means that they were always going to provide genuine, ongoing benefits to the local clubs who train and play on those grounds week-in, week-out during the regular football season," he said.

"Obviously we would have loved to host one of the teams here in Launceston, particularly with the recent investment announced at both of those venues. However, the funding commitment from the State Government as well as our own was always about significantly improving the facilities for our players locally, and for the long term."

Devonport Strikers president Drew Smith said the World Cup snub emphasised the need to continue to invest in facilities capable of hosting big matches and international countries for major tournaments.

"It's obviously really disappointing, especially with significant investment being made in Tasmania," Smith said.

"After Tasmania missed out on hosting any game, we expected, hoped we would be hosting at least one country. With that looking highly unlikely, it's disappointing for the state and the sport."

Australia will co-host the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 with New Zealand, with play-off tournament matches kicking off in February, and the World Cup matches from July."We would like to see that completed on schedule for the commencement of our junior season next year."

Launceston Mayor Danny Gibson confirmed this would be the case.

"The reality is these upgrades were planned regardless of our status as a potential training camp venue, which means that they were always going to provide genuine, ongoing benefits to the local clubs who train and play on those grounds week-in, week-out during the regular football season," he said.

"Obviously we would have loved to host one of the teams here in Launceston, particularly with the recent investment announced at both of those venues. However, the funding commitment from the State Government as well as our own was always about significantly improving the facilities for our players locally, and for the long term."

Devonport Strikers president Drew Smith said the World Cup snub emphasised the need to continue to invest in facilities capable of hosting big matches and international countries for major tournaments.

"It's obviously really disappointing, especially with significant investment being made in Tasmania," Smith said.

"After Tasmania missed out on hosting any game, we expected, hoped we would be hosting at least one country. With that looking highly unlikely, it's disappointing for the state and the sport."

Australia will co-host the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 with New Zealand, with play-off tournament matches kicking off in February, and the World Cup matches from July.

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