Port Melbourne Colts Junior Football Club wants brand new Murphy Reserve pavilion

A FAST-GROWING footy club on track to have more girls than boys playing is calling for extra cash for a planned pavilion upgrade to keep up with a “massive influx” of kids.

Young players Ella, Maree, Asher, Tess and Catherine. Picture: David Crosling

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A SPORTING club in the midst of a growth spurt is calling for the council to tip more money into a pavilion upgrade to “better plan for the future”.

Port Melbourne Colts Junior Football Club president Darren Williams said he was concerned the proposed upgrades to the Murphy Reserve pavilion would not cater for the “massive influx of children” expected as part of the Fishermans Bend development.

“In a few years’ time there’s going to be the population of Bendigo or thereabouts and we’ve got two ovals,” he said.

“We need to make sure there’s a long term plan for growth, not just something that’s a bit of a band-aid fix.”

Mr Williams said the club was already experiencing “unprecedented growth”, especially across girls’ footy, with membership expected to surge again once the AFL Women’s League competition kicked off next year.

“We’re going to have a massive influx of children and a pavilion that doesn’t even cater for what we have today,” he said.

Mr Williams said a brand new pavilion, built along the Graham St frontage of the reserve, would better cater to future demand at the site.

“It doesn’t cost that much more to start from scratch and get it right.”

The space of the existing pavilion could be returned to the community as parklands, Mr Williams said.

But Port Phillip Council mayor Bernadene Voss said it was “unfeasible to demolish and rebuild” at the site with a budget of up to $2.7 million.

Cr Voss said the proposed redesign would be big enough to meet the growing demands of the area.

“The social area of the current facility is ... already bigger than social areas at all other council-owned sporting clubs in the municipality outside of North Port Oval,” she said.

The pavilion is 20sq m larger than recommended AFL guidelines for regional facilities, Cr Voss said.

More community open space and sporting facilities will be included throughout Fishermans Bend, Cr Voss said, with Montague Community Park given the green light in August.

The Ferrars Street Education and Community Precinct will be home to Victoria’s first vertical government school, sports courts, maternal and child health services and an early centre.

Footy club on track to have more girls than boys playing

Meanwhile, the football club says more space and women’s change rooms are needed to cope with a surge in female football participation.

Port Melbourne Colts Junior Football Club girls footy convener Kerry Ashbrook said there was “phenomenal growth” in the sport, with enrolment at the club jumping from two female teams this season to eight next season.

“It’s a great problem to have but it does mean it’s hard to gauge what we’ll need in terms of space and facilities,” she said.

Ms Ashbrook said the Colts were on track to be one of the few footy clubs with more girls playing than boys and called for purpose-built female change rooms to be included in the new designs.

“I understand there will be unisex toilets and change rooms but ideally we’d have dedicated female change rooms,” she said.

“If there are urinals (in the change room) girls aren’t going to want to go in there.”

The club is on track to be one of the few with more girls than boys playing. Tess, Maree, Catherine, Ella and Asher have a kick. Picture: David Crosling

Ms Ashbrook said there had been “configuration issues” with women getting changed at the end of a match when boys were arriving.

“It just throws up a lot of scheduling issues for the committee,” she said.

“What they’re building now will cater for us but I’m not sure it will in years to come.”

Colts president Darren Williams said “accommodating all the kids is the most important thing”.

“We need to make sure we have the facilities available for them, including adequate change rooms for the girls,” he said.

“You walk into a change room today and you’ve got the male or boy aspect to it and that’s come from years of footy being a male-dominated sport.

Port Phillip Council mayor Bernadene Voss said the upgraded pavilion would double the number of unisex change rooms from four to eight and the rooms could be “configured as either females only or males only”.

“We are confident the adopted concept design more than meets the practical needs of females and males and will improve the user experience for those who will train, compete or socialise regardless of their gender,” she said.

The Leader launched The Grass Ceiling campaign last August, calling for a fair go for our sport-loving women and girls.

Port Phillip Council will spend between $1.4 and $1.9 million to the project and the State Government has chipped in $700,000.

What’s to come?

NEW toilets, upgraded security lighting and better storage areas will form part of the upgraded JL Murphy Pavilion.

Port Phillip mayor Bernadene Voss said the $2.6 million project would be a “significant community asset”, providing more space for Port Melbourne’s burgeoning population.

“We are focused on the challenges presented by growth in Port Melbourne and in particular Fishermans Bend,” she said.

“In addition to the Montague Precinct facilities, we’re working with the Fishermans Bend Taskforce ... to continually assess community facilities and needs with a view to the long term.”

Cr Voss said the council had been working with sporting clubs who use the pavilion since September last year to come up with a concept design to suit their needs.

The design is expected to be completed “in the near future”, with further opportunity for community consultation next year.

“The project scope allows for an increase in female participation in sport and provides multi-use facilities that can be utilised by a wide range of community groups,” Cr Voss said.

The project is due for completion in late 2019.

Proposed upgrades to JL Murphy Pavilion

— Eight modernised unisex change rooms

— New public toilets, including disability access toilets

— Upgraded kitchen facilities to cater for more people

— Extra storage areas for clubs and their equipment

— Upgraded security lighting around the pavilion

— New footpaths connecting existing pathways in the reserve

— New landscaping around the pavilion