The Minister for Sport and Recreation, Michelle O'Byrne, today cheered on the State's talented young footballers as they competed in the McDonald's Tassie Hawks Cup at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.

Ms O'Byrne said the Tassie Hawks Cup was an important junior sporting event in Tasmania, reaching public and private high schools throughout the State.

"The regional competition engages 61 schools, attracting over 2 500 participants," Ms O'Byrne said.

"This is the cream of Tasmanian high school football talent coming together in one day of intense competition to decide which school can claim to be the best."

Ms O'Byrne said throughout the school year, teams in the South, North and North-West had been competing for the McDonald's Regional Shield, with each regional winner qualifying for today's finals series.

"St Virgil's College, Kings Meadows High School and Marist Regional College won the right to represent their respective regions and take each other on during today's round robin tournament," Ms O'Byrne said.

"I'd like to congratulate the Hawthorn Football Club, AFL Tasmania, the Northern High Schools Sports Association and major sponsor McDonald's for organising such a great event to showcase our state's most promising high school footballers."