Rutherglen Football Club seeks council help for grant to up grade women’s change rooms

With all eyes on women’s soccer as the AFLW draft requires spot nowadays, 1 club in Rutherglen, in Victoria’s north-east, suggests it has to deal with “out-of-date” change rooms where players “shower in their garments”.  

The Murray Felines Football Club, which is manufactured up of about 100 players from throughout the location, performs its house online games at the local Barkly Park where there are no shut doorways on showers in both of those change rooms.

There are also no boundaries or doorways separating each individual shower, and persons who enter the rooms can see straight into the shower spaces.

Felines player Mietta Habets stated the rooms were being pretty aged and not acceptable for the club’s player foundation.

“You can find one particular lavatory. The door does not lock so you have to have a close friend to maintain the door, fundamentally,” she reported.

“The showers are going through the door to the clubrooms, so you can find no privacy.”

Club committee member Cooper Gabriel explained the situation was a “joke”.

“They [the players] have to travel a extensive length to get to a rest room facility that accommodates the desires that they have for the duration of a activity,” she explained.

“Most people is mindful that it truly is a difficulty — men and women of all ages, boys and girls.”

Club pushing for council assist

The Murray Felines want Indigo Shire Council to submit a funding application for a point out federal government grant that would enable up grade the improve rooms, with only area authorities locations (LGAs) and alpine resort boards (ARBs) in a position to utilize.

The grant software, which closes on July 12, provides resources of up to $1 million per LGA or ARB to progress female-welcoming sporting services.

Murray Felines committee member Paul Somerville said the rooms were outdated, and the club experienced been talking about the funding matter with council for about six months.

“They basically have experimented with to drive us down this next grasp-strategy course of action, but definitely that is just a way to kick the can down the street for an additional two or a few many years. 

“We do have a learn strategy. We do have a thought approach. We do have a practical format for what the change rooms could appear like.

“The Indigo Shire [Council] could get on board quickly and make factors materialize if they seriously wished to.”

Ms Habets reported the deficiency of development on the issue was frustrating.

“There’s lots of assist for girls in activity and specifically girls’ soccer, specially in this area,” she stated.

“It is irritating for the ladies who engage in, for the moms and dads, for the coaches.

Council responds

Indigo Shire Council said it acknowledged the require to enhance the change room amenities at Barkly Park and it was committed to doing work with the park’s committee of management and its person teams.

A spokesperson reported council had received information from the Local Sports activities Infrastructure Fund informing that a new funding application for Barkly Park upgrades would be unsuccessful owing to funding from the prior spherical already being awarded to establish a web-site learn program. 

“Council worked closely with the Barkly Park committee of management to safe the learn-system funding by means of the 2021/22 funding round,” they said.

“Style operate could be carried forward to help potential programs at the time the appropriate job scoping and preparing [master plan] has been accomplished.”

The spokesperson mentioned the learn-organizing procedure was expected to be finalised by December 2022.