The Facilities and Advocacy Unit in conjunction with Granville and District Soccer Football Association (GDSFA) delivered the second Clubs Football Facilities Forum of 2018 at Melita Stadium on Monday 26 March.
Football is the largest participated sport in the country with over 1.1 million participants and numbers continuing to grow each year.
Many of the facilities in NSW are over-used, in poor condition and demand often outstrips supply. Significant investment is required to improve the quality and quantity of facilities to maintain current playing numbers, and this situation will worsen as the population continues to grow.
This forum is an opportunity to provide local football clubs with the knowledge and information to update, upgrade and rejuvenate local football facilities to ensure football continues as the number one sport in the state and country.
The evening saw presentations from key personnel including, Julia Finn – State MP for Granville, Adrian Burns – Cumberland Council and the Facilities and Advocacy Unit, Daniel Ristic and Jas Virdee.
Adrian Burns, spoke to the clubs about ‘How to Engage with Local Councils’. Mr Burns urged football clubs to talk to Council about club projects. “Councils are here to help clubs with all types of projects”. Council will help clubs apply for grants to improve local community facilities” said Mr Burns.
Julia Finn, Member for Granville spoke to clubs on “How to Engage with your State MP”. Julia emphasised the need for clubs to apply for grants within each state electorate. “Members of Parliament want to expend their allocated funding pot each year” stated Ms Finn.
A running theme of the forum was the need for planning and Jas Virdee, Manager for Infrastructure, Planning and Strategy at Football NSW stressed the importance of planning for clubs. Mr Virdee explained why clubs needed to create an effective business plan for their clubs which would assist them to build better facilities for the future.
Daniel Ristic, Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure introduced the ‘Let’s Light Up Football’ Facilities Fund to the 20 clubs that were represented at the forum.
The ‘Let’s Light Up Football’ fund of $300,000 will provide Football NSW Member Associations and Clubs with the opportunity to upgrade lighting to safe and suitable standard for the community, improve training conditions and allow night competition.
The Let’s Light Up Football Fund will open in April 2018.
Further football facility forums will continue in 2018 as the Facilities and Advocacy Unit continues to assist clubs across the state in accessing funding and improving the football experience for the 230,000 registered players.
