Hurlstone Park Wanderers were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Canterbury Bankstown Council, Councillor Khal Asfour and the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association CEO Ian Holmes to Ewen Park recently for a low key COVID-19 safe “light warming” event for our new lights that have been installed in the last month.
The new lights provide Australian Standard 100 Lux lighting across the fields, providing a much safer environment for training for the more than 1700 football participants in the club.
Prior to the new lights being installed, the fields were poorly lit. With the newly installed lights the fields have truly been lit up.
This project was a collaborative effort between the Canterbury Bankstown Council, the State Government, the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association, the Hurlstone Park Wanderers Football Club, Football NSW and the local community.
The project has been urgently needed for many years, and Canterbury Bankstown Council made it a priority through its 2019-2020 Capital Works Program.
Importantly, the project was funded through the efforts of the Club and the Community and with significant financial support from Football NSW and the CDSFA.
The total cost of the project was $260,000.
Hurlstone Park Wanderers Football Club were successful in being selected as a finalist in the NSW State Government My Community Projects program for the Canterbury Electorate. Local residents then had the opportunity to vote among the finalists.
The fact that so many residents voted for the Ewen Park lights project shows how important grassroots football is for the community.
HPWFC were delighted to be the winning project in the community vote – which contributed $200,000 towards the project through the MyCommunityProjects funding.
The remaining funds were contributed by a grant from the Football NSW Let’s Light Up Football Fund ($20,000), the CDSFA Infrastructure Fund ($20,000) and by HPWFC from reserves raised by members and set aside for facilities ($20,000).
The lights were installed in late July, and the club’s players have since been able to enjoy the new much safer and brighter training conditions over the recent weeks.
Hurlstone Park Wanderers FC President Rosalie Viney thanked Canterbury Bankstown Council, CDSFA and Football NSW for the support and efforts that had made this project possible.
The Mayor of CBC, Councillor Khal Asfour emphasised that providing high quality sporting facilities across the CBC was a priority for the Council.
“I am delighted to see these under 6 players able to train and play under these new lights.”
CDSFA CEO Ian Holmes thanked the Council for their vision and commitment to community sport infrastructure.