Ballarat’s sport stadia prove their value

With Ballarat’s season of winter sport having come to a close, the City of Ballarat has looked back on the dozens of AFL and football matches played in front of tens of thousands of spectators at the Mars Stadium and the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility (BRSF) over recent months.

A busy period for the city’s premier sporting facilities, a total of 30 AFL matches were played at Mars Stadium since the start of August, while 27 matches were played using the three pitches at BRSF.

There were also 187 training sessions held at the Pleasant Street football facility in that same period.

As of last weekend, Mars Stadium saw almost 20,000 people through the gates over four different days of Ballarat Football Netball League and Central Highlands Football Netball League deciders.

Heavy rain and constant foot traffic on Saturday resulted in some deterioration of the surface, although crews had already been busy working to restore the turf.

The grounds team are confident the surface will return to near-perfect condition for the upcoming AFLW clash between Western Bulldogs and Geelong on Saturday 1st October 2022.

The Morshead Park playing surface also promises to be in excellent condition for an upcoming female football carnival.

Welcoming the city’s elite facilities being used to such an extent, City of Ballarat Mayor, Daniel Moloney stated “these venues play host to Australia’s premier competitions in both the AFL and A-League, it is fantastic to also see an extraordinary amount of use from people in the Ballarat region.

“To have tens of thousands of people attending the facilities and thousands playing on them shows just how valuable they are as an asset.

“Ballarat’s weather hasn’t been particularly kind this winter, but for the playing surfaces to hold up in the way they did under an extraordinary amount of foot traffic, is a testament to the hard work of our grounds team.”

Both venues are set for further action in the near future, with the three-day Western United Cup women’s and girls’ football carnival to be held at BRSF from 29th September to 1st October and Mars Stadium to host two AFLW matches in October.

Western United Football Club will also be returning to the city for two 2022/23 season A-League Women matches at the BRSF.

Image: Mars Stadium.