City of Parramatta calls for additional women’s sport facilities funding

The City of Parramatta is calling for additional state and federal funding to help local councils fast-track the upgrades of sporting facilities to be more female friendly with additional lighting and other elements needed.

Lord Mayor Pierre Esber said Council was committed to ensuring its 33 sportsgrounds and pavilions meet the needs of all players and supported the City’s fast-growing population.

Lord Mayor Esber notes “equal access to facilities that support and enhance participation is critical at all levels of sport, from grassroots through to elite.

“We want Parramatta to be a breeding ground for the next generation of Matildas, Diamonds and Jillaroos and it starts by ensuring they have access to great sporting facilities in their local community.

“Council has already started the job by investing more than $12.5 million on upgrades to five sportsground facilities over the last 10 years but we cannot do it alone.”

Lord Mayor Esber said the initiatives like the Federal Government’s $200 million Play Our Way program, announced in August on the back on the Women’s World Cup, were a positive step but with more than 500 councils nationally likely to be competing for a share of the funds, continued investment from the State and Federal Governments was critical.

Lord Mayor Esber added “this is a great chance for all three tiers of government to work together to ensure local sporting facilities support the continued growth of women’s sport.

“We’ll be pushing for both the NSW and Australian Governments to help us fast track the upgrades of facilities to include female friendly facilities, additional lighting and other elements needed.”

Councillors also agreed to prepare Sportsground Pavilion drawings and specifications to enable forward planning to assist local sporting clubs and groups as they continue to grow.

“Parramatta’s is set to house more than 400,000 people by 2041 so it is absolutely critical that we begin to plan and ensure our growing community has the sporting facilities it needs,” Lord Mayor Esber highlighted.

Women and girls will be catered for at the new Parramatta Eels Centre of Excellence which is scheduled for completion in 2025 and is being jointly funded by the NSW Government, Federal Government, Hills Shire Council and Parramatta Leagues Club. A $15 million funding commitment came from the Federal Government.

The Centre will provide a facility to cater for the club’s NRL and NRLW teams, emerging football talent, staff and the wider community with Parramatta Eels Chief Executive, Jim Sarantinos stating “from best-in-class high performance resources to community engagement, the Eels Centre of Excellence will be home to our NRL, NRLW and Elite Pathways teams.

“It will increase participation across all forms of rugby league for boys and girls from grassroots to elite in one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia, and will strengthen our connection with the Eels community of more than 35,000 members and 800,000 fans”.

Images: Concepts for the new Parramatta Eels Centre of Excellence. Credit: Parramatta Eels/Kane Constructions NSW.