Vision becomes reality as SANFL opens “game-changing’’ $25 million high performance centre at West Lakes

The SANFL’s dream has become a reality as its $25 million high performance centre opens at West Lakes, paving the way for a new era of success. See the pictures.

“The vision has become a reality’’.

That is how state under-18 coach Tony Bamford described the SANFL’s new, state-of-the-art, $25.3 million high performance centre at West Lakes, which officially opened on Thursday.

“It’s going to be the best talent development facility in Australia and we are so lucky to have it,’’ said Bamford, who this year led South Australia to its first AFL under-18 boys national championship since 2018, going unbeaten.

“No other state pathway academy has its own training base – the northern academies, the Lions, Gold Coast, Sydney and GWS, have access to AFL venues – but we will be the only place that has its own venue.

“The project has been spoken about for a few years and to now see it in real life, walk through and touch and feel it, it’s a really special moment.

“The facility is top class and gives us a home identity, somewhere we feel that we belong. It also tells a bit of a story, being back at Footy Park, which is nice.’’

It’s all smiles at the opening of the SANFL High Performance Centre. Pictured, from left, are the AFL’s Shayne Ward, Norwood’s Kai Ivens, Sturt’s Kale Matthews-Hampton, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing Rhiannon Pearce, Senator Karen Grogan, SANFL chief executive Darren Chandler, South Adelaide’s Taya Maxwell and Emma Charlton and the AFL’s Paul Hamilton. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt/SANFL

Described as an SA football “development game-changer’’ by SANFL chief executive Darren Chandler, the complex – the first of its kind for Australian football and a new national benchmark for talent development – has been built adjacent to Football Park on land owned by the league.

It will become the high performance training venue for the SANFL’s elite male and female underage talent, as well as First Nations and multicultural talent academies, as the Adelaide Crows prepare to move to Thebarton Oval.

Jointly funded by the SANFL ($12 million), state and federal governments ($13 million) and the AFL ($250,000), the spectacular centre at Footy Park Precinct will be used by about 300 footballers each year and includes:

UNISEX player changerooms, gymnasium, rehabilitation suites, coaching and education facilities.

SPORT science office, coaching and education rooms and new offices for the SANFL’s

talent department.

REHABILITATION suites with hot/cold baths and an athletes’ lounge with kitchenette.

COACHES, multimedia and observation areas overlooking the oval.

ALLIED health suites available for public appointments.

THE Oval View Room – a multipurpose function centre for up to 150 guests overlooking Football Park, run by The Mosaic Hotel.

South Australian state junior players, from left, Kai Ivens, Emma Charlton, Kale Matthews-Hampton and Taya Maxwell in the corridor honouring SA draftees at the SANFL High Performance Centre. Picture: Roy Vandervegt/SANFL

The SANFL High Performance Centre is a centrepiece of the broader Footy Park Precinct –

a multi-use destination for the community incorporating the Mosaic Hotel, X-Golf and Hey

Caddy indoor mini golf.

All profits from the SANFL-controlled operations are reinvested back into SA football.

“We’re extremely proud to be opening the SANFL High Performance Centre, which represents a powerful statement of SANFL’s commitment to providing the best pathways and programs for football talent in SA,’’ said Chandler, noting that SANFL pathway teams trained at 15 different venues this year.

“This project is the largest single infrastructure investment in player development, with more than 300 players each year benefiting from not just industry-leading facilities but

the very latest in sports science and tailored programs to nurture their physical, mental

and personal development and provide them with the best opportunity to play at the

highest level.

“In addition, hundreds of other emerging junior players from SANFL clubs will have the

opportunity to utilise this unbelievable facility on an annual basis.’’

The indoor training facility at the SANFL High Performance Centre at West Lakes. Picture: Roy Vandervegt/SANFL

The opening of the facility follows last week’s appointment of highly-respected SANFL club talent mentors, Sturt’s Chris Trapp and South Adelaide’s Mark Clayton, as joint SA Academy coaches.

The major investment in SA junior football comes on the back of SA winning this year’s AFL under-18 boys championships and last month having a state record seven players chosen in the first round of the national draft.

Rising Sturt star Kale Matthews-Hampton – the only bottom-age player to play in SA’s under-18 national championship-winning side this year – described the centre as “like an AFL facility that will be so good for our development’’.

“It’s pretty surreal to have a home base like this, we are very lucky, it’s very motivating and I’m sure it will benefit me and the rest of the players,’’ he said.

Star state talent pathway players, from left, Kai Ivens, Emma Charlton, Kale Matthews-Hampton and Taya Maxwell check out the changerooms in the high performance centre. Picture: Roy Vandervegt/SANFL

The weights area in the SANFL High Performance Centre. Picture: Roy Vandervegt/SANFL

Those that have come before next season’s exciting crop of SA talent are well recognised at the facility, with many past draftees having their images displayed, while the boys and girls changerooms will each year be named after SA’s state under-18 captains, who in 2025 were Dyson Sharp (Central District) and Imogen Trengove (Woodville-West Torrens).

AFL executive general manager game development Rob Auld congratulated the SANFL on its “landmark achievement’’, describing the new facility as “world class’’.

Originally published as Vision becomes reality as SANFL opens “game-changing’’ $25 million high performance centre at West Lakes