Over 500 females at the Cronulla Seagulls Football Club are excited to get the 2022 Winter Season underway in the Sutherland Shire Football Association as the club officially opened the upgraded change rooms for players and referees on Saturday 26 March.
Woolooware Oval the home of Cronulla Seagulls FC has gone through a well-deserved amenity upgrade thanks to funding from the NSW State Government.
NSW Sports Minister, The Hon. Stuart Ayres and Attorney General and local Member for Cronulla the Hon. Mark Speakman attended the official opening at Woolooware Oval.
The Seagulls received $256,000 from the first round of Greater Cities Sports Facility Fund that contributed towards the newly upgraded female changerooms, with lockable toilets and showers, storage space for club equipment at Woolooware Oval.
The player and referee changeroom and storage upgrade came to a total of $480,000 and was built by Tony Zuvela from Zedcon who is a member of the Sutherland Shire based club.
Cronulla Seagulls contributed well over $200,000 towards the project through club fundraising, sponsorship, and canteen profits.
Cronulla Seagulls is one of the largest clubs in Sutherland Shire with over 1,500 players in 2022, with 37% of these players being females.
With one of the largest female participation bases in Sutherland and NSW, Cronulla Seagulls were unable to offer the clubs members the standard of facilities required for today’s society.
“We have worked hard to deliver for our female members”, Club President George Koulouris stated to Football NSW.
“We saw the need to provide better overall facilities and value for members. Our female players and visiting teams from the Shire will benefit from having clean, safe, and secure changerooms well into the future thanks to this upgrade.”
Daniel Ristic, Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure commented, “this is a great example of a club working towards a plan over many years, working through the design phase, consulting with the club members, submitting a DA and working through construction to achieve a brilliant result for the football community.
“With the FIFA Women’s World Cup less than 500 days away now, female participation will continue to rise. Upgrades such as this at Woolooware Oval are needed across the state, currently only 1 in 5 changerooms across the state are female friendly.”
Inclusive Football Facilities is a key pillar of the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy.
“Inclusive football facilities allow football clubs to support the rich diversity that exists in the world game”, stated Mr Ristic.
The club’s motto of positively impacting the community through football has certainly been achieved through this redevelopment.
The club offers an inclusive environment to all that want to be apart of the world game in the Cronulla area.
The club is now in discussions with Sutherland Shire Council to upgrade the floodlighting at Woolooware Oval to allow for night competition and mid-week training in a safe and welcoming environment.
