Soccer: FFA urges $100m fighting fund to improve facilities

Football Federation Australia is calling for the establishment of a $100 million fighting fund to help improve grassroots facilities

David Gallop says lack of facilities is one of the key challenges facing soccer

Football Federation Australia is calling for the establishment of a $100 million fighting fund to help improve grassroots facilities as concerns over the growing number of kids being turned away from playing the sport reach ­crisis point.

The recommendation is in a white paper to be released shortly in which FFA argues thousands of kids around the country, ­especially girls, are being left behind “because football’s demand is ­exceeding the current number of facilities”. It comes just days after Football Federation Victoria released its State Football Facilities Strategy (Towards 2026), which identifies the need for more pitches, improved facilities and lighting in the state.

The report says Victoria will need an extra 420 pitches to meet expectations of a huge rise in ­registered players by 2026. FFV chief executive Peter Filopoulos revealed clubs in Victoria were forced to turn away more than 12,000 kids this season because they could not cope with the ­demand.

Football NSW has also produced a white paper on the issue amid reports that some of its associations have been capping registrations for the past five or six years as green space disappears at a rapid pace in Sydney.

FFA reveals that “in one region in southern Sydney, about 2500 players each season are turned away by clubs due to facilities shortages”.

Under its proposal, FFA says local sporting clubs, communities and governments need to come ­together to alleviate the problems by:

• Establishing a National Communities Facilities Fund with $50m upfront coming from federal government contributions and a $50m co-contribution from state and local governments.

• Focusing on small developments of up to $2m in size through ­increasing use, capacity and ­quality. This would include more synthetic pitches as well as upgraded amenities so that they cater for female players.

FFA chief executive David Gallop said lack of facilities was one of the biggest challenges facing grassroots soccer and the issue was seriously affecting the women’s game.

“FFA supports Football Federation Victoria for delivering an important and timely State Football Facilities Strategy and for its continued strong engagement with the Victorian state government and local councils,” Gallop told The Australian.

“The lack of suitable facilities for football in Victoria and across the whole country is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the grassroots game today.

“There are simply not enough facilities to meet the growing ­demand for our game, and thousands of players are being turned away every week due to a lack of places to play and train.

“Girls and women represent the largest growth sector in our game, and we desperately need more football fields and improved change rooms if we are to achieve gender equality in our sport.”

The FFA white paper suggests councils and state governments could improve the situation by:

• Identifying underused existing assets for renewal, such as converting old tennis courts or lawn-bowls greens into multipurpose synthetic fields.

• Allowing councils to generate a return from land and other assets to be reinvested into core community facilities.

• Providing “active open spaces” in planning guidelines.

• Producing a “needs-based test” that benefits sports that are the largest and most in need.

• Considering small-business tax concessions for local companies that are willing to commit time and expertise to the construction of community facilities.

FFA says the situation regarding grounds and facilities is reaching a tipping point.

“We are already the No 1 club-based participation sport in Australia with more than 1.1 million participants,” it says in the report. “If football continues to grow at current rates, it will have around three million participants by 2030.”

Significantly, the white paper revealed that a survey of more than 8500 people found 92 per cent of respondents were likely to support a government that improved local facilities. Improved grandstands, higher quality pitches, more pitches and synthetic pitches all rated in the top 10.