Rutherglen Football Club seeks council support for grant to upgrade women’s change rooms

With all eyes on women’s soccer as the AFLW draft will take location right now, one club in Rutherglen, in Victoria’s north-east, claims it has to offer with “outdated” change rooms where players “shower in their outfits”.  

The Murray Felines Football Club, which is designed up of about 100 players from throughout the location, performs its property online games at the local Barkly Park where there are no closed doors on showers in the two alter rooms.

There are also no boundaries or doors separating each shower, and individuals who enter the rooms can see straight into the shower areas.

Felines player Mietta Habets said the rooms ended up really outdated and not ideal for the club’s player foundation.

“There’s a person lavatory. The doorway won’t lock so you will need a buddy to maintain the door, generally,” she said.

“The showers are dealing with the door to the clubrooms, so you will find no privateness.”

Club committee member Cooper Gabriel stated the situation was a “joke”.

“They [the players] have to travel a extended distance to get to a lavatory facility that accommodates the needs that they have in the course of a video game,” she said.

“All people is conscious that it is a trouble — men and gals, boys and ladies.”

Club pushing for council assist

The Murray Felines want Indigo Shire Council to submit a funding application for a state government grant that would help up grade the transform rooms, with only community government parts (LGAs) and alpine vacation resort boards (ARBs) equipped to implement.

The grant software, which closes on July 12, provides cash of up to $1 million for every LGA or ARB to development woman-pleasant sporting facilities.

Murray Felines committee member Paul Somerville said the rooms were outdated, and the club had been speaking about the funding issue with council for about six months.

“They in essence have experimented with to press us down this next learn-prepare system, but seriously that is just a way to kick the can down the highway for one more two or a few decades. 

“We do have a learn prepare. We do have a idea plan. We do have a useful structure for what the modify rooms could glimpse like.

“The Indigo Shire [Council] could get on board swiftly and make factors materialize if they truly needed to.”

Ms Habets explained the lack of development on the issue was aggravating.

“There’s lots of support for girls in sport and particularly girls’ football, specifically in this region,” she claimed.

“It is annoying for the women who perform, for the mothers and fathers, for the coaches.

Council responds

Indigo Shire Council explained it acknowledged the require to upgrade the adjust home amenities at Barkly Park and it was committed to functioning with the park’s committee of management and its consumer groups.

A spokesperson stated council had received suggestions from the Local Sports Infrastructure Fund informing that a new funding software for Barkly Park updates would be unsuccessful owing to funding from the earlier spherical already being awarded to build a site learn program. 

“Council worked closely with the Barkly Park committee of management to secure the master-prepare funding via the 2021/22 funding round,” they mentioned.

“Style operate could be carried ahead to help future applications once the appropriate challenge scoping and preparation [master plan] has been finished.”

The spokesperson claimed the grasp-scheduling system was envisioned to be finalised by December 2022.