Both Golden Square Football Netball Club and White Hills Junior Football Club need more space, but are constrained by the city’s sprawl.

Meanwhile, clubs in the city’s growth corridors are set to benefit.

The City of Greater Bendigo says it is planning ahead for the increase in demand for sports facilities in identified growth areas such as Maiden Gully.

The council is hopeful establishing partnerships with schools, as it has done with Marist College, will help satisfy the demand for sports fields at a reduced cost.

A regional strategy, which was released by AFL Central Victoria in September, outlines a need for new facilities.

Bendigo council’s active and healthy communities manager, Lincoln Fitzgerald said the need had increased since the report was released.

The growth in women’s participation in sport – particularly AFL – is partly responsible for the rising demand for facilities. 

But AFL Central Victoria regional general manager Carol Cathcart said participation in AFL at a junior level had increased dramatically, as whole.

(INTERACTIVE MAP: Sports fields and home teams in Greater Bendigo)

AFL participation in central Victoria has ‘grown massively’ in the past eight years – particularly in the Bendigo junior league.

The league consisted of 91 teams in 2010, compared with 158 teams this year.

AFL Central Victoria regional general manager Carol Cathcart said the growth was most pronounced among the under 10s and under 12s.

While there were five women’s junior teams in 2011, there are now 28.

“Some of these clubs are at absolute capacity,” Ms Cathcart said.

But more people in central Victoria are expected to want to play football, with the population in Bendigo forecast to rise to 155,596 by 2036.

“It’s a fantastic problem to have,” Ms Cathcart said.

But it’s an issue all the same – one she said AFL Central Victoria was working with local councils, such as the City of Greater Bendigo, to address.

Asked whether the supply of sports fields in central Victoria was sufficient to meet demand, Ms Cathcart said: “We’re managing at the moment”.

Bendigo council’s active and healthy lifestyles manager, Lincoln Fitzgerald said a regional strategy released last year recommended a further three sports fields by 2026.

But he said the AFL’s penetration within the region was tracking above the figures upon which the recommendation was based.

“If we had to provide more grounds, we’ve got a bit of capacity,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

He said the council had been planning for the city’s growth and identified sites for development.

Some of the city’s newest sports fields have been built in its growth corridors, such as Epsom Huntly.

A new recreation reserve features in the council’s strategic plan for Maiden Gully, and Mr Fitzgerald said the city had opened netball courts and ovals in partnership with Marist College.

He said the city was exploring opportunities for further partnerships with schools.

Council is largely responsible for monitoring the condition of Greater Bendigo’s more than 50 sports fields.

Mr Fitzgerald said overuse was a consideration in ground maintenance.

SPORTS fields have become a pressing concern for clubs in Bendigo’s most urbanised communities.

A concerted effort to increase opportunities for women in sport, and the city’s growing population, are factors contributing to a rapid rise in participation in sports such as AFL.

White Hills Junior Football Club consists of nine teams, whereas it had four in 2010.

The oval it shares with the White Hills Football Netball Club and Bendigo Masters AFL Club is in demand from a total of 13 teams, and more are likely in future. 

Junior training has spilled onto the White Hills Primary School oval, as there is simply not enough space on the White Hills Oval to accommodate all the sessions.

“We are so lucky the primary school lets us use this,” White Hills Junior Football Club secretary Nigel Lewis said during this evening’s session.

The club made a formal submission to the City of Greater Bendigo demonstrating the need for plans relating to the sporting precinct to be updated.

It has identified an ‘active play’ and events space in the botanic gardens as a potential site for a junior oval.

“WHJFC is of the belief that the user groups in the area have now changed significantly, to the extent that the precinct now is not able to cater for all of the current user group needs,” the club’s submission stated.

Female change room facilities are also among the club’s stated priorities.

“Since the CoGB completed the Bendigo Botanical Gardens Master Plan 2010, a considerable amount of growth has occurred across all users of the precinct and the three adjacent primary schools, which have exceeded initial expectations,” the submission said.

White Hills Primary School, Holy Rosary Primary School and Epsom Primary School all have new buildings, which did not feature in the 2010 plans and occupy formerly open spaces or sports areas.

“A junior oval located at the White Hills reserve precinct would be easily accessible by all three primary schools without the need for transport,” the submission stated.

Issues with the current arrangements extended to home games being played on ovals some distance from White Hills; wear and tear on the existing oval; and inappropriate facilities for female players and umpires.

“Last season female umpires were using one of the disabled toilets as a change room facility,” the submission said.

White Hills Football Netball Club football director Brett Johnson said efforts to engage the council in discussions about the need for a second oval were ongoing, and had been for some time.

He was hopeful new lighting at the White Hills Oval would open up opportunities for training in the evenings – an improvement Mr Johnson said the club had to advocate for strongly.

Golden Square Football Netball Club is also considering its options for expansion, with the constraints of its facilities hampering its potential growth.

It, too, has little in the way of open space in the vicinity.

The City of Greater Bendigo considered closing the Golden Square Swimming Pool, which neighbours the Wade Street oval, once the new Gurri Wanyarra Wellbeing Centre opened.

The council proposed to explore, ‘the future use of the site for community health and wellbeing purposes’.

The 100-year-old pool was given a two-year reprieve following a unanimous decision by councillors in February.

Golden Square Football Netball Club president Brendan Stewart said the Wade Street oval and courts were in use almost every day, either for matches or for training.

More than 750 players, belonging to three clubs and 46 teams, use the complex and facilities.

They include Golden Square Football Netball Club, Golden Square Cricket Club, and Golden Square Football Netball Club – Juniors.

“We feel the viability of our club is in danger,” Mr Stewart said.

The three clubs have identified the following as priorities: 

Mr Stewart identified netball as a particular pressure point for the club’s future, with only one court to cater for about 50 netball players.

“To remain in the premier completion, we would require at least three courts to remain viable,” he wrote in a proposed master plan for the Wade Street facility.

“There is an additional issue in that the one and only court is in urgent need of re-surfacing as it is becoming unsafe and hazardous to train and play competitions on.”

Additional demand for the netball facilities is expected, with the club planning to field a team in the senior women’s competition in 2019 to compliment the women and girls’ teams in the GSFNC – juniors structure.

Mr Stewart described the growth of the Junior club in recent years as ‘spectacular’. 

“In the 2017 winter, netball and girls footy was introduced for the first time, adding 13 teams. It is significant that, with the influx of all those teams, there has been no increase in the facilities to cater for the numbers, let alone for female participants,” he observed.

The clubs intend to apply for grants to improve the standards of the facilities for females at the Wade Street complex.

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