Female footballers suffering from lack of proper facilities

It might be dubbed the beautiful game, but actually trying to play football can be anything but for many of the increasing numbers of girls and women taking up the sport thanks to seriously inadequate changing facilities and toilets.

Perth Glory’s Sam Kerr is tackled by Sydney FC’s Alanna Kennedy during the W-League grand final on Saturday. Picture: AAP

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It might be dubbed the beautiful game, but actually trying to play football can be anything but for many of the increasing numbers of girls and women taking up the sport.

Seriously inadequate changing facilities and toilets are a frequent impediment and part of a facilities crisis that is sparking calls for major government funding to address the issue.

As The Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday, Football Federation Australia has started a major lobbying campaign at all levels of government over a $500m funding shortfall, and its audit of playing facilities across the country has identified a chronic lack of female-friendly infrastructure in all areas.

Participation numbers are rising eight per cent annually for girls and women on average, but often playing at grounds that aren’t seen as secure and respectful.

FFA officials are seeking a $300m funding partnership from various governments to improve facilities nationally, and a key part of the rationale is the rise in female participation and its implications for public health.

Perth Glory’s Sam Kerr is tackled by Sydney FC’s Alanna Kennedy during the W-League grand final on Saturday. Picture: AAP

Across the Nepean FA’s region, where 12,000 players take part over 30 clubs, general manager Linda Cerone says that only two of 36 venues have dedicated male and female changing rooms and toilets for players and match officials.

Cerone says that council funding models make upgrading or building new facilities prohibitively expensive.

“So we tend to get the absolute bare minimum in the Nepean area, but with the huge rise in female participation it’s simply not good enough to say that they should just get changed on the sidelines,” Cerone said.

“We want to send a message that we want girls and women to be part of our sport, and part of that is understanding their needs.

“You need to respect modesty, especially when we’re talking about bringing other cultures into the sport as well as young girls.”

Officials say that clubs are often forced to use changing rooms as storage areas due to lack of alternatives, but the net effect is to diminish playing access.

The president of Garden Suburb FC near Newcastle, Leonard Allen, won a grassroots award for trying to increase female participation at his club by researching what would improve the experience of current and former players at the club.

“As a result we’ve worked hard on giving equal access, but we only have one set of changing rooms,” said Allen. “If we schedule male and female teams on the same day, it’s impossible to give them proper facilities.

“We’ve tried putting timetables on the door and staggering kick offs, but in the end a lot of the women get changed elsewhere rather than run the gauntlet of someone just walking in.

“Our facilities were upgraded somewhere around 1997-2000 and no doubt were great at the time but the club didn’t have a girls team then.

“We’re lobbying to get a second set of changing rooms built that don’t have open showers and things that the girls tell us they don’t feel comfortable with.”

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