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From todays West Australian
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ontentID=26239
Clubs to get rugby cash
17th April 2007, 7:00 WST
The WA Football Commission will use profits generated from rugby union matches at Subiaco Oval to fund a series of improvements to WAFL grounds following a major review of facilities throughout the State.
And money from the new pool will also be allocated to help alleviate a shortage of playing fields and facilities that threaten the rapid growth of the game.
Six WAFL clubs have applied for grants from the new $500,000 development facilities fund, with Claremont and Perth seeking to upgrade their lighting so they can stage night matches.
Over the past 12 months the WAFC, with the help of the Department of Sport and Recreation, has carried out an extensive review of football facilities in WA and the results indicate the metropolitan area and State’s South-West might not have enough grounds to meet demand over the next 15 years.
The WAFC estimates participation levels will rise by 10,000 players in the nine WAFL districts and the South-West region by 2021. Yet an audit has revealed one in three senior and junior clubs consider they already don’t have enough ovals for training and matches.
Following the appointment of Geoff Glass as WAFC director of facilities and planning last year, football’s governing body has worked with State government departments and local councils, especially those on the edges of the metropolitan area, to release more land on which full size ovals can be constructed. “In certain areas we are (running out of grounds),” Glass said yesterday.
“One of the simple ways that can be overcome is by providing lights. Here we have a winter sport and it gets dark by 5.30pm and the grounds aren’t being utilised.
“Particularly in the youth market there is a push for games to be played in the evening. You have changes in the work force and people’s availability on the Saturday afternoon isn’t like what it used to be.
“Also, property is sold as a lifestyle and the land that is set aside for public open space become lakes, drains and passive walking areas. Where once there might have been 10 per cent of land set aside for sports fields the reality is it is significantly less.
“Football, in putting forward its case for new facilities, is doing so from a base that is well researched and substantial. It is not just a wish list or a case of thumping the table — it is based on fact.”
Glass said the WAFC was also in discussions with the Department of Education about the use of school grounds for football outside of the normal classroom hours.
But the report concluded that one in four schools did not have an oval big enough to stage a football match.
Under the facilities strategic plan, the WAFC has devised a series of minimum standards for WAFL, senior club and junior grounds, such as playing dimensions, undercover seating, change rooms and car parking. The WAFC hopes each WAFL ground can become a centre of excellence for its respective zone.
Claremont and Perth have each applied for $45,000 to improve lights at their grounds while Subiaco and East Perth have requested about a third of the $100,000 cost to overhaul media facilities at Medibank Stadium.
East Fremantle have also sought $15,000 from the fund to assist in a master plan study of the future of East Fremantle Oval, which also includes financial input by DSR and the Town of East Fremantle.
The new Noranda Regional Sporting Complex is set to receive $34,000 to be put towards the cost of lights at its two football ovals.
The strategic plan identified that for each year Perth’s annual population increases by 25,000 people in the developing suburbs, about 1000 more footballers will emerge and will need five new grounds on which to play.
ROSS LEWIS