Facilities newsletter 6 May 2018

Newsletter May 2018

football

facilities

2018 FOOTBALL FACILITIES AUDIT COMMENCES football is currently in the process of capturing the details of more than 1,200 venues and an estimated 1,600 pitches through the 2018 Football Facilities Audit.

Clubs and Associations across the state will work together to conduct the most comprehensive analysis of football facilities since the last audit conducted in 2010 as part of Australia’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Bid. The 2018 Football Facilities Audit will help key stakeholders in making better informed and strategic decisions

02 Let’s Light Up Football - Football

This Issue

GROW, DEVELOP & PROMOTE THE GAME

Similar to a national census, the audit is a collaborative venture between Football NSW, Northern NSW Football and Capital Football.

Conducted over the months of April to July, it will establish what facilities football currently has for its use, their quality and usage patterns, and given the growth and the pace of new players joining the game, what will be the sport’s needs going forward.

Facilities Fund

03 Facilities High on the agenda in the Northern Beaches

04 Club Football Facilities forum flourishes in Granville

05 Football continues to present its case!

06 West Epping Park grand reopening 07 New synthetic football field opens at Cromer Park - Field 2

07 Opening of a new synthetic field at Ilinden Sports Centre

08 Opening of Synthetic Field at

Strathfield Park and Mason Park

08 Funding announced for new synthetic sports field at Peakhurst Park

09 Funding opportunities 11 Bedlam Bay Lights for Women’s Centre of Excellence

11 Campbell Park welcomes a new amenities building

12 New turf at Rodney Reserve 12 Eschol Park Football (Basin 3) receives major upgrades

13 Facility updates

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Continued from page 1

and will be the starting point for lobbying government and councils for greater investment to support the overwhelming growth in demand for the game.

The results of the Audit will provide accurate and up-to-date data detailing the quality and quantity of existing facilities, current usage, as well as potential barriers around future use.

Improving the quality of a playing field, providing floodlights that allow night games and additional training, and change room facilities that cater for both men and women are important steps in improving the overall player experience in safe and conducive environments. Combined with geotagging of players residences, heat maps of ethnic concentrations, electoral boundaries, regional growth trends and other demographic information, the analysis will provide the most comprehensive set of data ever gathered by a sporting body.

Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge stated “the 2018 Football Facilities Audit will provide an important insight into current and future trends as well as facility needs to help guide the development of our ongoing strategies moving forward. Further, it will assist in advocating for more and improved facilities considering that football remains the largest participation and number one sport in Australia”.

“Football is the most popular sport in NSW with over 400,000 registered participants with a player base 22% larger than all other football codes combined. Many of our facilities are inadequate especially when it comes to meeting the needs of female players, which is concerning given that this aspect of our game continues to grow with more than a quarter of registered players being female”.

Football NSW has partnered with Melbourne based company Inside Edge, a world leader in this area, who have specifically designed software that will allow the sport to capture data utilising the latest in mobile technology. Football NSW’s Facilities & Advocacy Unit will work closely with Associations, Clubs, Local Councils and Schools to collect the necessary information to complete the auditing process.

For further information regarding the 2018 Football Facilities Audit contact the Facilities & Advocacy Unit on 1300 213 771 or click here

Let’s Light Up Football Football Facilities Fund Football NSW is pleased to announce the Let’s Light Up Football Campaign is now open. Football clubs are now invited to apply for support under the first ever Football NSW Facilities Fund.

Let’s Light Up Football allows Football NSW affiliated clubs and associations, together with local councils and schools, the ability to apply for funding to improve lighting on community football pitches.

Football NSW recognises that floodlight’s play a pivotal role in the running of a football club - put simply without lighting a football club cannot provide a safe and

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inviting experience for players.

Football NSW Chief Executive, Stuart Hodge, said, “There are far too many football pitches across NSW that simply don’t meet the Australian Lighting Standards for training and or competition”.

“I encourage football clubs that have suffered from poor or no lighting to apply now. Let’s Light Up Football offers a maximum of $20,000 per lighting project to assist in improving the football experience for players across regional and metropolitan NSW”, Mr Hodge continued.

The Let’s Light Up Football fund of $300,000 will provide Member Associations and Clubs with the opportunity to upgrade lighting to a safe and suitable standard for the community and most importantly increase the capacity of open space through the provision of night training and games, throughout NSW. Applications close, Wednesday 6 June 2018 at 4pm. The Guidelines and Online Application Form for the Let’s Light Up Football fund can be found on The Football facilities website.

For further enquiries or to discuss your lighting project, please contact the Facilities and Advocacy Unit on 1300 213 771.

?KNOW

DID YOU

By using LED

Flood Lights there is

a potential to save 50%

- 70% on energy bills with a 5,000 hour life expectancy

Facilities High on the Agenda in the Northern Beaches The Facilities and Advocacy Unit in conjunction with Manly Warringah Football Association (MWFA) delivered the first clubs football facilities forum of 2018 at Cromer Park on Wednesday 31 January.

It was another successful forum with 14 MWFA clubs, the MWFA Referees, Manly United FC represented with Northern Beaches Council, State MP James Griffin and Federal MP Jason Falinski also in attendance.

Facilities is the biggest issue confronting grassroots football clubs across NSW. Football faces real challenges at all levels of the game to access enough facilities of the right quality to play.

“Facilities not only enable growth in the game, they also enable broader community development” said Daniel Ristic, FNSW Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure.

Football is the number 1 club based sport in Australia and NSW, however demand is exceeding the current number of facilities and leaving many kids behind.

The Clubs Football Facilities Forum is a fantastic opportunity for clubs to receive information not only on facilities but valuable tips on government relations and how to work collaboratively with all levels of government.

The MWFA Club Football Facilities Forum covered several topics including presentations from Northern Beaches Council on ‘How to engage with Local Council’. The football community is reliant on facilities that are largely owned by Local Councils, who own, maintain and develop sites. It is therefore crucial that clubs work closely with their respective council to ensure facilities are maintained and upgraded to a suitable level.

State Member for Manly, James Griffin presented to the clubs on ‘Engaging with your local State Member of Parliament’. Mr Griffin encouraged clubs to contact their

local member and keep them updated on the club events and projects throughout the year.

Jas Virdee, FNSW Manager – Infrastructure, Planning and Strategy spoke to the attendees about the importance of facility and strategic planning. Building a case for why a club needs a facility will assist clubs greatly particularly when trying to source money through various grant programs.

The NSW Asian Cup 2015 Legacy Fund took centre stage with FNSW Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure, Daniel Ristic wrapping the evening up by providing an in-depth look at the Fund. Clubs received key tips on applying for Round 2 of the Fund which closed on Friday 2nd March 2018.

Overall MWFA CEO, David Mason was ecstatic with the attendance from clubs in the Manly Warringah Football Association, “it’s definitely opened the eyes of our member clubs to better understand the process they need to follow from a planning and government relations perspective”.

Further Club Football Facilities forums will take place throughout 2018 with local football associations across the state.

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Club Football Facilities forum flourishes in Granville

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.

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.

Football is the largest participated sport in the country with over 1.1 million participants and numbers continuing to grow each year.

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.

Many of the facilities in NSW are overused, 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.

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.

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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 is now open and closes on Wednesday 6 June at 4pm.

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.

Football continues to present its case!

Football continued to advocate for greater government investment in the sport at a function to launch the 2018 Parliamentary Friends of Football at NSW Parliament House recently.

The function, hosted by Football NSW and Northern NSW Football, provided a valuable opportunity within the backdrop of Parliament House to meet with key politicians who had all signed up to be part of the Parliamentary Friends of Football group.

Members from a broad range of political parties were represented including Stephen Bromhead (Member for Myall Lakes), Mark Coure (Oatley), Tim Crakanthorp (Newcastle), Phil Donato (Orange), Julia Finn (Granville), Ron Hoenig (Heffron), Sonia Hornery (Wallsend), Geoff Lee (Parramatta), Chris Patterson (Camden), John Sidoti (Drummoyne) and Guy Zangari (Fairfield).

of the Government’s Active Kids program, where more than 110,000 young players and their parents had benefited from the $100 vouchers made available through the scheme.

Mr. Hodge also spoke also about the need for greater investment in facilities, particularly in key areas such as synthetic pitches, lighting, drainage and irrigation.

Representing the Members of Parliament, Mark Coure MP stated “with the growing demand for the game and with a forecast increase in this year’s numbers, we need more synthetic fields to cope with the popularity of the game”.

Special guest speaker and well-known football personality and FoxSports commentator, Andy Harper spoke on the importance of football, amplifying to the Members of Parliament that “the tide is rising in Australia and our clubs need improved facilities”.

Football NSW and Northern NSW Football would like to thank the State Members of Parliament for their ongoing support and looks forward to continuing its work with them to ensure that the sport’s much needed facilities are improved across local communities and throughout the state.

Also present were several Directors of Football NSW, Chief Executive, Mr Stuart Hodge, the Chairman of Northern NSW Football, Mr Bill Walker and Football Federation Australia CEO, Mr David Gallop.

Hyundai A-League Clubs, Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners were represented by their CEOs, John Tsatsimas and Shaun Mielekamp respectively.

Fresh from her Female Football Week Award recognising her work as a role model in the community, Wanderers and Young Matildas goalkeeper Jada Whyman attended as did Tom Hiariej from the Mariners. Both young players represented their clubs well and proved popular posing for ‘selfies’ with State MPs throughout the morning.

In welcoming all present and outlining the objectives of the event, Football NSW CEO, Stuart Hodge recognised the wonderful success

Photos by Damien Briggs

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WEST EPPING PARK GRAND REOPENING After some 18 months of redevelopment West Epping Park reopened in march to the local community.

Photos courtesy of West Epping FC Facebook page

The locals came out to investigate the 2 new state of the art synthetic football fields and the surrounding parklands.

Epping Football Club (formerly known as Epping YMCA football Club) is one of the largest and most successful clubs in the Gladesville Hornsby Football Association, with the recently redeveloped West Epping Park being the home ground for the club.

West Epping Park reopen on 24th March after a $11.5 million upgrade. The newly redeveloped park now has two state of the art synthetic football fields, and a significant parkland precinct.

The project which was initially started

by Hornsby Council and subsequently transferred to Parramatta Council as part of the council boundary changes, saw

The new facilities have been a welcomed upgrade of facilities for the club, as President Malcolm Arnold expressed on behalf of the Epping Football Club.

Video courtesy of West Epping FC Facebook page

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“The Epping Football Club were able to secure the Club Championships for both the Men’s and Women’s competition in 2016, a rare feat seen within the football community. The club has also experienced continuous growth within an already thriving community, with this new facility enabling the ability for further growth and encourage children within the region to participate in playing football.”

New synthetic football field opens at Cromer Park - field 2

Photo courtesy of Northern Beaches Council

Northern Beaches Council announced in april the opening of an additional synthetic football field at Cromer Park.

“The community spoke and we have listened. It was clear we need to act and make the most of our existing land and address the shortfall in supply.”

The conversion of field 2 to a synthetic field was identified as a key initiative in the Northern Beaches Sportsground Strategy – a 15 year strategy focused on priority actions, identified through community engagement, to meet the shortfall of sportgrounds in the area.

There are many benefits of the new sportsfield including the ability to carry a greater capacity of players, by providing more opportunity for both women’s and men’s representative teams to play at the same time.

Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan said last year Council received over 5,000 submissions sending a clear message that there is not only a need, but a demand for more fields.

“We have much more work to do, but the success of this field is a step towards bridging the gap to ensure that everyone who wants to play sport is able to.”

“This site provides a consistent, all weather, first class facility which will greatly improve the skill level of all who play and train on it.

It also makes Cromer Park one of the best football facilities in Sydney and NSW.” Mayor Regan said.

“The development of this site will deliver first class facilities for the entire football community and the Manly United representative teams.” said CEO of Manly Warringah Football Association, David Mason.

“The entire football community is so grateful that Northern Beaches Council has continued its commitment to implementing the Sportsground Strategy by providing this tremendous facility.”

“The new synthetic pitch, along with Cromer Park No1, will be made available to the 20,000 players in the MWFA football community with players and teams from our 17 local clubs benefitting directly every weekend.”

“This will allow an average of 10 extra local competition matches to be played on a quality pitch every weekend, with matches spread out across all clubs, age groups (Under 12s to Over 45s) and genders. The allocation of matches at Cromer Park No 2 will mirror football’s strength of men, women, young and old.” Mr Mason said.

The project took six months to construct, costing $1.45 million and is now fully operational.

Opening of a new synthetic field at Ilinden Sports Centre Before a crowd of 3,000 spectators, a state of the art synthetic playing surface at the Ilinden Sports Centre was officially

opened on Sunday 11 February 2018.

The honour of opening the ground was bestowed upon the Mayor of the City of Bayside Council Bill Saravinovski together with the State Member for Rockdale, Mr Steve Kamper. They were joined in the official party by Bayside Councillor Liz Barlow, former Rockdale City Councillor Nick Mickoski, and the General Manager of Bayside Council Meredith Wallace.

synthetic playing surface at the Ilinden Sports Centre, which is the first of its kind in the St.George region and made possible with the support of Bayside Council.

Rockdale City Suns are delighted with the

(Adapted from the RCSFC website)

Photo courtesy of Rockdale City Suns

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Opening of Synthetic Field at Strathfield Park and Mason Park Strathfield Council in conjunction with Strathfield Football Club marked the beginning of the football season with an official opening of the new synthetic field at Strathfield Park.

The synthetic field is an all-weather playing field, consistently left with a perfect surface, rain, hail or shine, enabling increased community usage. While natural turf requires a period of recovery after average utilisation of 25 hours a week, the synthetic field can endure heavy use of 60 hours per week, allowing residents more enjoyment of the field and the benefits of fitness through sports and passive recreation.

Strathfield Council has also opened the new synthetic field at Mason Park.

FUNDING ANNOUNCED FOR NEW SYNTHETIC SPORTS FIELD AT PEAKHURST PARK After years of campaigning, Member for Oatley Mark Coure welcomed $300,000 in NSW Government funding for the construction of a new synthetic sports field at Peakhurst Park.

Mr Coure said “the new multi-purpose all weather field will expand the range of sport and recreation activities at Peakhurst Park and benefit local football clubs, schools and community groups.”

“I’m delighted our Government has been able to partner with Georges River Council to deliver this much-needed project that will be a great asset for our community for decades to come,” Mr Coure said.

“I have campaigned for this funding for several years and would like to thank everyone in the community who signed my petition to make our dream of a synthetic sports field in the St George area become a reality.”

“The field will feature a FIFA standard surface, perimeter fencing and new lighting.

Photo courtesy of St George FA

It will meet national standards and cater for local and representative level football.”

Craig Kiely, General Manager of St George Football Association said, “that on behalf of the Board of Directors, 23 member Clubs and the 10,000 active participants, we welcome today’s announcement for funding towards the first synthetic field in the Georges River LGA.” “This facility will provide an enormous benefit to our local football community and allows access for kids and adults of all ages and abilities all year round,” Mr Kiely said.

Minister for Racing Paul Toole said the project is funded through the Clubgrants Category 3 infrastructure grants program. “Over $50 million in Clubgrants infrastructure funding is being provided in the current term of government for projects across sport and recreation, emergency preparedness, and arts and culture,” Mr

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Toole said.

“These grants are funded through a rebate on the state’s registered clubs’ gaming machines to reinvest profits back into community projects.”

Mr Toole said “the NSW Government is pleased to provide this funding to help more people experience the many benefits of taking part in sport and leisure activities including improved fitness and well-being and greater social interaction.”

“We improved the program in 2017 by giving community organisations more chances to apply for a wider range of projects,” Mr Toole said.

“New funding ranges are encouraging more diverse projects, and a streamlined application process is cutting red tape and allowing for faster assessment.”

Funding Opportunities Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund - $100 million is available over three years for sport facility projects Who is eligible to apply?

The Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund has been established by the NSW Government to create spaces and places that enable communities to participate in sport at all levels.

Funding is available for projects in all Greater Sydney local government areas, from eligible applicants.

The fund will invest in new and existing facilities to improve the quality and quantity of sports infrastructure across Greater Sydney.

Eligible applicants are: • 33 local government authorities in Greater Sydney.

About the Program

• NSW state sporting organisations or the National sporting organisation where the state body is part of a unitary governance model.

The main objective of the Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund is to ensure funding is allocated to those sporting facilities that deliver the best outcomes for the communities they support.

• Incorporated, community-based, not-for-profit sporting organisations (clubs and associations whose primary purpose is to organise sporting activities/deliver sport programs) and organisations providing sport and recreation programs that benefit the community, such as PCYCs, YMCA and YWCA.

The aim is to ensure that the right investments in community sport facilities are made and that the best value possible is achieved.

Program objectives The overall Fund objectives are to: • Increase the number and type of sport facilities.

• Educational organisations (such as schools, TAFEs and universities) in conjunction with local councils and local or state sporting entities.

• Improve the standard of existing sport facilities.

• Private enterprises.

• Increase participation in sport.

What types of projects will be funded?

Funding available

The following types of projects are the focus of the Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund:

An allocation of $100 million is available over three years for sport facility projects. There will approximately be $33 million available per year for the next three years.

• The development and construction of new sport facilities or the upgrade and/or expansion of existing sport facilities.

Funding for individual projects:

• Multi-sport, multi-purpose facilities.

• The Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund will provide grants up to $5 million for sport facility projects.

• Amenity buildings such as storage, kiosks, club rooms, dressing rooms and grandstands.

• For projects worth more than $1 million a 25 percent cocontribution of the grant amount requested will be required.

• High performance centres/centres of excellence.

• Multi-use facilities primarily intended to be used for sport, but which can also be used for other events that contribute to the local community.

Opening and Closing Dates • The first round of the fund will open 1 June 2018.

• New or upgraded facilities to provide for the increased participation of women and girls.

• The Expressions of Interest can be submitted over a three month period.

• Facilities that promote inclusion in sport, and especially remove barriers to participation for people with disability.

• Expressions of Interest for the first round will close on 31 August 2018.

NSW Community Building Partnership Eligibility Incorporated not-for-profits and local councils will be eligible to apply.

Project types Grants need to be for: • Construction of new community infrastructure.

The NSW Community Building Partnership program awards grants for community infrastructure projects with $300,000 available to fund projects in each State electorate of NSW.

• Refurbishment, repair and maintenance of existing community infrastructure.

The Community Building Partnership program supports community infrastructure projects that:

Applications open 9.00am Monday 7 May 2018 and applications close 5.00pm sharp Friday 15 June 2018.

• Deliver positive social, environmental, and recreational outcomes.

• Promote community participation, inclusion and cohesion.

• Capital equipment with a minimum individual asset value of $2500.

Visit the NSW Community Building Partnership website for further information.

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Funding Opportunities Australian Sports Foundation The Australian Sports Foundation was established by the Federal Government in 1986 with the mission to raise money for Australian sport. For over 30 years the foundation helped clubs and organisations from the grassroots and community level, to professional and elite national level, and individual athletes to fundraise for sport.

Fundraising for, and donating to sport have become just as common as supporting any other cause in Australia. Five reasons why people donate to sport: 1. Culture – sport plays a huge role in the Australian way of life.

2. Social and Community benefits – sport helps to build a sense of community and belonging.

3. Health – sport has a direct positive impact on our health.

4. Economic – sport is an important contributor to the economy.

5. Emotional – being part of a sporting community or helping a sport succeed makes people feel good.

The Australian Sports Foundation is uniquely positioned to

enable philanthropic support to Australian sport by providing tax deductibility for donations made to projects signed up. ASF are the only organisation that can provide a tax deduction for donations to sport across Australia. ASF are a deductible gift recipient (DGR), and have a special listing in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Subdivision 30-B, s30-90).

Visit the Australian Sports Foundation website for further information.

GRANTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE To find more about grants that are currently available click here.

LET’S LIGHT UP FOOTBALL Applications OPEN: Wednesday 18 April 2018 Applications CLOSE: Wednesday 6 June 2018, 4:00PM

Supported by the

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT FUND

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Bedlam Bay Lights for women’s centre of excellence April 2018 was a defining moment for Gladesville Ravens Women’s Football Club.

The club, who are part of the North West Sydney Women’s Football Association and Women’s National Premier League 2 Football, saw a 10 year lighting project come to fruition. After the extraordinary number of meetings, discussions and written communication, new lights were installed at Bedlam Bay to provide training facilities for young women.

Gladesville Ravens Women’s Football Club vision is to have a regional Women’s Football facility to be created at Bedlam Bay Regional Park with lighting installed to meet Australian standards. Bedlam Bay is a unique site which is based behind the Gladesville hospital and is part controlled by the N.S.W Health Department and part by Department of Environment and Conservation Now Parks and Wildlife. As this site was not a council ground it took much persistence and perseverance to get all these parties to approve the $120,000 flood lights project installed.

Gladesville Ravens Women’s Football Club is one of the largest women’s sporting clubs and the installation of these floodlights will benefit over 600 young women from U7 to First Grade National Premier League Teams. Through the provision of better

training facilities with an extended capacity beyond daylight hours the club will be able to increase participation rates and improve the skills and fitness levels of females in the local community.

Campbell Park benefits from nsw asian cup funding After 5 years of planning and funding, Abbotsford Juniors Football Club’s new clubhouse and amenities was officially opened on Saturday 7 April 2018 in front of 200 club supporters and members.

This project delivered by the City of Canada Bay Council was completed within 5 months.

This project involved the demolition of the former 52 year old sheds and change rooms, substantial ground works as well

Photo courtesy of Photographed with Love

as the construction of the new building including the surrounding landscape.

President Gilbert Lorquet said “the

ambitions and needs of the community are finally matched with a world class facility.

This building is a lasting legacy of our collective determination and efforts”.

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New Turf at Rodney Reserve Waverley Council have completed upgrades of Rodney Reserve field in Dover Heights.

The upgrades include a complete relevel, resurface, and installation of an irrigation system. Poor drainage and wet weather increase the susceptibility to damage affecting the quality of the natural turf pitch and will generally cause the grounds to be closed rather than risk widespread damage that cannot be easily repaired.

Photos courtesy of Waverley Council

Both drainage and irrigation are two fundamental elements of a football field that contribute significantly to its quality.

penalty areas and the centre-circle, should be monitored at all times, with training drills confined to other, low-wear areas.

Previously the field would not be in great shape and high traffic on limited playing spaces is a problem faced by many football clubs, however with diligent soil and grass treatment, combined with judicious use of grounds, playing fields can be better maintained and avoid expensive resurfacing.

Football NSW recommends Clubs and Councils work closely together to ensure that the best possible playing conditions for any grass field are maintained throughout the season. Particular care must be taken not to over-use a field during bad weather, and careful use of high-wear areas, such as

AFTER

IN PROGRESS

BEFORE

Eschol Park Football (Basin 3) Receives Major Upgrades Photo courtesy of Campbelltown Council

As part of the capital works outlined in Campbelltown Council Sport and Recreation

Strategy, council have recently completed relevelling, turfing and drainage works at Eschol Park.

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Campbelltown Council have committed to assist Eschol Park FC in conjunction with grants, to install a full perimeter fence to increase the safety of players, officials and spectators. Council have a lighting project that has seen the installation of 100 LUX lights at both fields, which will allow the club to train more efficiently and see competition games being played during the evenings on weekdays and weekends.

FACILITY UPGRADES Wallsend Oval receives drainage upgrade Wallsend Oval which is used by Wallsend FC has had significant issues with the oval especially with water laying on the field, which has led to games being forced to be washed out. The field has a lowlying area on one side of the oval causing considerable issues with water not dispersing and the ground taking long periods to dry.

These issues in previous years have had an adverse effect on training and competition not being able to take place. The new sub soil drainage system has been installed to combine with a new manual irrigation outlet to provide a safer surface for players and match officials. The drainage has been a success and the club predicts with the support of this upgrade, that they will see at least a 20% increase in membership for the 2018 season.

Photo courtesy of NNSWF

A Complete resurface at Harry Edwards Oval will support the growth of Lambton Jaffas Junior FC Photos courtesy of NNSWF Harry Edwards Oval has historically had a synthetic cricket wicket running through the middle of it, which has caused concerns around safety. The high usage and traffic levels have been the major contributing factors for the surface deteriorating to a state beyond repair.

Works have been carried out to remove the deteriorated surface, install new levelled soil followed by the laying of new turf. Along with these upgrades a full irrigation system and a drainage system was installed on one side of the field. To help supplement this system, two 20,000 litre water tanks were also installed to environmentally capture the rainwater from the amenities building.

These upgrades will benefit more than 600 plus players from Lambton Jaffas Junior FC by providing a safe and quality playing surface.

New lighting to allow training and night matches to occur at York Street Oval Photos courtesy of NNSWF York Street Oval in Coffs Harbour has recently received an installation of new floodlights for two fields, which will allow for training and night matches to be played at the venue. The floodlights at the oval were previously inadequate for the local football club Northern Storm to conduct training sessions.

Installing these new floodlights will allow the club to cater for O35’s night competition whilst providing a safe and spatial area for players and coaches to conduct training sessions. These new floodlights will also allow the club to grow in membership with more teams regularly participating in the local football competition.

Edgeworth Oval No2 & 3 receives multiple facility upgrades Edgeworth Junior FC will be the beneficiaries of a $580,000 facility upgrade of new floodlights, resurface, irrigation and drainage at Edgeworth Oval number 2 with oval number 3 receiving new floodlighting and drainage.

The club has currently 500 plus registered players who use the oval

and struggle to train adequately with limited lights for the fields.

With limited space for the club to conduct training under lights and an unsafe playing field, the oval was struggling to cope with the demands of the sport. The club is now able to provide a safe and enjoyable environment with regular training under lights and night competition games being played at the oval.

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