Little league death threats

DEATH threats in letters to two Hobart families have shocked a junior football league.
Police have launched a hunt for the letters' authors, who have repeatedly threatened to kill two boys playing for an under-10 club in the Southern Tasmania Junior Football League.

The boys' families have been forced to change their daily lives, fearing for their safety.

The team has changed training venues and adapted match-day rituals to improve protection.

The boys remain unaware of the threats.

The concerned parents contacted the Sunday Tasmanian in the hope that making the threats public would assist investigations.

The coach of the under-10 team, John (not his real name) has received 24 letters, each typed using a computer and addressed to his family home.

All of the letters were shown to the Sunday Tasmanian.

"We're just sickened by these people," John said.

"We want them to be caught and receive the justice they deserve.

"This is under-age football for goodness sake -- it's about having fun and learning the game.

"This kind of harassment is disgusting and unacceptable."

Initially, the letters demanded that the two boys, who are among the successful team's best players, play for a different team.

"We will leave you alone if you give us -- -- and -- -- because we think this will damage your team and make ours a better one ... if this is not done, they could end up getting hurt and then no one will be able to have them."

When the demands were not met, physical threats followed.

"We are going to gang up on them at training. One boy will bash -- -- in the face and break both legs and arms of -- --. If we can't have them nobody will, including you or their parents."

Within weeks, sickening death threats began.

"We have been watching -- -- this week and just waiting until it's the right time to kill him. You don't seem too worried, if you think this is a joke, well think again, because it's not. You should start to take this seriously because it will happen."

Each weekend the parents find themselves looking around suspiciously from the sidelines as their boys play, fearing the worst.

"We're constantly watching, sizing everybody up. We can't trust anyone," a mother of one of the boys said.

Both families admit that they have adjusted their lives in a bid to protect the boys.

"I now meet him at the bus stop because I don't want him to be unaccompanied between the bus stop and home," a mother of one of the boys said.

"I'm angry that these sick people have forced us to do this."

A father of one of the boys told the Sunday Tasmanian that he had considered pulling his son from the team in an effort to protect him.

"But I just know it would crush him if he couldn't play though," he said.

"He loves the game. He wants to be an AFL player. How could we do that to him?"

Glenorchy CIB said several people of interest had been identified.