Clubs ‘devastated’ by cut to female sports scheme

A MULTIMILLION program aimed at bringing sporting facilities for women up to scratch has been scrapped, leaving clubs ‘devastated’ and sparking calls for its reinstatement.

• ‘Unsafe’ facilities a risk for female players

A SOUTH Australian program upgrading noncomplying sport facilities for female players and officials has been scrapped by the state government, leaving clubs “devastated” and prompting calls for its reinstatement.

But Recreation, Sport and Racing Minister Corey Wingard said the program will not return.

The $24 million Female Facilities Program (FFP) under the previous Labor Government, which was due to deliver $10 million in grants from July, has been replaced by a grassroots sporting facilities scheme with half the amount of committed funding.

Among those clubs awaiting funds under the axed program was Kalangadoo War Memorial Park and Community Sports Club, 348km southeast of Adelaide.

“The facilities we have are small, and pokey and present a number of occupational health and safety issues,” club president Andre Carlson said.

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“We desperately need to upgrade our facilities to accommodate our netballers and new woman’s football side.”

The Sunday Mail this month revealed nine out of ten of the state’s football club change rooms fail to meet AFL guidelines for female use, with a SANFL audit recommending at least one facility in Adelaide’s north be completely razed.

The new grassroots sporting facilities scheme will provide $10 million in state government grants, with the AFL contributing $1 million and Cricket Australia and SACA $500,000 each over two years.

This will need to be matched by clubs and councils to bring joint investment to $24 million. The SA Office of Recreation and Sport failed to answer whether grant approvals would proceed without co-funding, nor whether the scheme would be open to sports outside of netball, footy and cricket.

“Not only has the female facility fund been completely scrapped and the applicants completely disregarded, there is now a lot less money available to upgrade all facilities,” opposition sport and recreation spokeswoman Katrine Hildyard said.

She said clubs has been “devastated” by the program’s removal at a time when many were overwhelmed by the lack of appropriate facilities failing to meet the rise in female participation.

“We want the program reinstated,” Ms Hildyard said. “If we are serious about backing girls and women in sport and supporting them to equally and actively participate, we need to provide them with appropriate facilities.”

Mr Wingard said the new funding program would focus on the development of female and family-friendly shared use facilities for the female growth sports of AFL, cricket and netball.

“The emphasis on the program will be about maximising usage by the community through shared use and creating sporting environments that are welcoming to women beyond change rooms,” he said.