The northern suburbs around Wanneroo are set to benefit from the latest round of the McGowan Government’s Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF), with four important local projects sharing in $790,000.
Wanneroo City Soccer Club ($250,000), Hudson Park ($394,000), Hainsworth Park ($73,151) and Koondoola Park ($73,393) have all received funding to undertake upgrades at their facilities.
The upgrades at Wanneroo City Soccer Club and Hudson Park are to provide female-appropriate change rooms, in line with the State Government’s commitment to build and retrofit community sport facilities 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Western Australia, like the rest of the country, struggles with outdated sporting infrastructure which only caters for men’s teams.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 funding will see Wanneroo City Soccer Club create six unisex change rooms for its 30-plus clubs to use. Hudson Park’s new unisex change rooms will cater mainly for soccer and cricket.
Hainsworth Park and Koondoola Park will receive about $73,000 each to assist with the installation of floodlighting. Both parks are used by local soccer teams and the wider community.
All projects are led by the City of Wanneroo, with support from the State Government.
The CSRFF has two rounds of small grants each year that open in February and July in addition to the larger grant round. For more information, visit https://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/funding/facilities-(csrff)
As stated by Sport and Recreation Minister Mick Murray:
“I am delighted to deliver these important upgrades to Wanneroo, Girrawheen and surrounding areas. Grassroots sport is vital in fostering healthy, active communities and these upgrades will provide a much better experience for all local sportspeople.
“In this day and age women should have all the same opportunities as men when it comes to playing social sport, and I’m delighted we’ve been able to provide funding for these unisex facilities for these local clubs.
“The City of Wanneroo should be commended for leading these important projects, demonstrating their commitment to providing proper facilities to foster a healthy, active community.”
As stated by Wanneroo MLA Sabine Winton:
“Soccer is gaining more and more popularity with women and as a local mother of three daughters, I know how important it is to have female-appropriate change rooms.
“Wanneroo City Soccer Club is going from strength to strength with 12 senior teams and 19 junior teams, and this upgrade will allow them to attract even more members.
“I am thrilled that the McGowan Government is continuing to invest in sport in Wanneroo.”
As stated by Wanneroo City Soccer Club president Dean Bell:
“I am really pleased for the support from the Federal, State and local governments to ensure we get this much needed upgrade.
“We are hoping that construction will start very soon. It is a much needed upgrade.”
