NSW’s future sports stars failed by lack of investment in local grounds

The Tucabia Bears have no football fields, the tennis and netball courts are shut and the pool is closed— a glaring example of how a generation of Aussie kids are being let down by a lack of spending on sports infrastructure.

Professional footballers and child psychologists have blown the whistle on a lack of investment in sporting infrastructure that is failing a generation of Aussie kids.

The Daily Telegraph has found one town in northern NSW where an entire junior football team has no facilities at all and whose coach calls them “the kids sport forgot”.

It comes as Sport NSW called for an $8 million increase in funding for administrators and a major boost in cash for facilities which are so dire that basketball alone turns away 10,000 kids who want to play every year.

In Tucabia outside Grafton, junior football club president Kyle Summers said his young players are “the kids sport forgot.”

The team’s home pitch was flooded and with no money to fix it the Bears merged with a neighbouring club to form Yuraygir United FC.

Teammates from Yuraygir United FC, which was formed after the Tucaba Bears lost their pitch. Picture: Danielle Smith

“We haven’t had a home game this year because of the flood and it looks like we won’t again next year,” he said.

Facilities at the shared home ground are little better.

“There is one changing room in the ladies toilet, which has to be used in turn by boys and girls. It also doubles up as a storeroom,” he said.

There is no scope to play other sports after the local netball and tennis courts were ploughed under because of maintenance costs.

“So what do the kids do instead? They turn to computer games if there is no sport,” Mr Summers said.

“There is nothing to do around here so they just end up getting fat.”

The lack of sporting infrastructure means local kids have limited opportunities to play. Picture: Danielle Smith

Northern Football Interim chief executive Peter Haynes said the Bears’ pitch was just one of 700 pitches that will be needed across the state as demand rises over the coming decade.

“With the recent World Cup, and the Women’s World Cup in 2023, we will see a surge in player numbers and it would be a crying shame if our facilities mean we have to turn boys and girls away from our great game,” he said.

Former Socceroo Robbie Slater said funding more soccer pitches, which often provide the gateway to all sports for Aussie kids, was critical.

“We are truly a sporting nation and if you cannot have grounds for kids then you are up against it,” he said. “That is where your future Socceroos, Matildas and NPL players come from.”

Minister for Sport Alister Henskens said the funding that state sporting organisations receive to administer their sports and infrastructure funding were separate matters.

“Sport is the lifeblood of our communities,” he said. “Since 2017-18, the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government has committed more than $1 billion for community infrastructure delivered through the Office of Sport.”

But former 80 cap Socceroo and two time World Cup Player Luke Wilkshire warned that children would miss out unless Mr Henskens stepped up.

Ex-Socceroo Robbie Slater and former

Sydney FC player Luke Wilkshire called for more action on kids’ sport.

“The NSW Government needs to invest in sporting facilities - the way things are now is just not good enough.

“Unless we do, football stands to miss out not just on more boys and girls playing this great game, but we risk not presenting adequate opportunities to future generations of Socceroos and Matildas who will build on our recent World Cup success.”

Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said recent surveys showed the number of children participating in sport was plummeting.

He said spending on sporting facilities was “a fantastic investment in the future well being and resilience of the next generation.

“It is really important to recognise that if kids are doing one thing they cannot be doing another - so fill our courts or fill our basketball courts,” he said.

A Sport NSW report released last month found the lack of facilities in NSW meant 10,000 children who want to play basketball are turned away every year because there are not enough courts.

At the same time funding for sports administrators in NSW in some cases was up to eight times less than the same sport received in Queensland.

In Tucabia many of the Bears also used to travel to Grafton for swimming lessons in the outdoor Olympic pool but that has also been closed.

Grafton Olympic Pool has closed and now the only pool in town is a 25m indoor pool. Picture: Danielle Smith

Kathryn Robinson, Grafton Amateur Swimming Club President, said the number of children in the club had dropped from 70 to just 19.

The local six lane, 25 metre indoor pool cannot cope with the demand.

“Kids lose their edge because they don’t get their endurance in a smaller pool,” she said. The number of competitors the club sent to compete interstate has dropped by 80 per cent.

Karina Plunkett’s daughter Jamie is a multiclass international swimmer who has now lost her training facility.

“She won’t be able to succeed in her dreams because there is no capacity to train to the intensity she needs,” she said.

Grafton swimmers Georgia Skeels, Robert Johnston, Jamie Plunkett and Stella Skeels miss out on training. Picture: Danielle Smith

Clarence Valley Council mayor Ian Tiley said the pool was a social hub in summer and crucial for many to learn to swim. The council needs financial help to rebuild it.

“A concerted approach across the state for more sporting facilities would be a good idea,” he said.

Chris Hall, Chairman of Sport NSW, said this one snapshot showed the need to “keep investment going” to give everyone in NSW fair access to local sporting facilities.

Mr Hall said funding for sports administrators was just $2.5 million and had not moved since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“Some sports receive just $100 a week in government support. This explains why so many sports are volunteer based, mums and dads sitting around a kitchen table because they just can’t afford professional support.

“Sport NSW is calling for an extra $8 million which is just an additional one dollar per person in NSW for State Sporting Organisations to provide better access to sport right across the state.

“We have begun the Green and Gold runway to Brisbane 2032 but if there isn’t enough investment now we won’t be celebrating gold when we host the games,” he said.

“One of these kids could be in the Australian Swimming team, a Socceroo or Matilda, but without funding to community facilities we will never know.”