The McGowan Government has provided $400,000 to help build unisex change rooms at Des Penman Memorial Reserve, giving women and girls from the Nollamara football and cricket clubs proper match day facilities for the first time.
The funding will see the reserve’s clubrooms refurbished, including the establishment of four unisex change rooms which will cater for both men and women’s teams to use the facility.
The State Government’s $400,000 contribution, allocated from the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF), forms part of the funding pool for the $1.6 million project, which is being led by the City of Stirling.
The upgrades follow the McGowan Government’s allocation of specific funds last year to build and retrofit outdated, male-only change rooms to cater for both men and women.
Western Australia, like the rest of the country, struggles with outdated sporting infrastructure which only caters for men’s teams. The lack of adequate female facilities regularly forces women to use public toilets, cars, bushes or the sidelines to change clothes in lieu of adequate change rooms.
The Des Penman Memorial Reserve houses both the Nollamara cricket and football clubs.
The CSRFF has two rounds of small grants each year that open in February and July, and one larger grant round that opens in June. For more information, visit https://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/funding/facilities-(csrff)
As noted by Sport and Recreation Minister Mick Murray:
“Female cricketers and footy players will no longer be treated as lesser sportspeople when they pull the boots on for a match at Des Penman Memorial Reserve.
“The upgraded facilities will provide women and girls with a decent place to prepare for a match, and we expect it will encourage more local people to participate in community sport at the facility.
“I’d like to commend the City of Stirling for leading this important project on behalf of the community. It is great to know women and girls who want to play sport will now have equal opportunities to have fun and compete at the facility.”
As noted by Morley MLA Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“These upgrades are desperately overdue; I am really pleased we can support the club in accommodating women players.
“This is a great grassroots club and important hub for local families. We want them to continue their great work.”
As stated by City of Stirling Mayor Mark Irwin:
“These upgrades will not only increase community participation at the football club but ensure that the facility fully accommodates women’s sporting teams, which is vital given the growing popularity of women’s sport in our local area.”
