Numerous clubs have told the Bendigo Advertiser their home grounds were holding up remarkably well, despite sometimes daily use for training and games.

The number of sports fields available to the growing number of people involved in organised sports in Greater Bendigo has become a talking point, with several clubs struggling to make do with a single oval.

“The difficulty, mainly, with us is training,” Eaglehawk Football Netball Club committee member Andrew Reid said.

The club and it’s junior counterpart use the ovals at California Gully Recreation Reserve and Eaglehawk Secondary College.

But Mr Reid said neither of those grounds had sufficient lighting, making it difficult to train on winter evenings.

“Everybody wants to get onto Canterbury Park,” he said.

The club is one of about four in the league aspiring to establish a senior women’s team next year, which Mr Reid said would also be seeking space at Canterbury Park.

He said local information had proven invaluable for preventing wear and tear at the oval.

“We know where the ground wears,” Mr Reid said.

He also identified the need for female friendly facilities at the ground, to smooth transitions between matches.

Marong Football Netball Club has been managing well with its facilities at Malone Park, president Darren Turnbull said.

But improvements to the ‘top oval’ would put the club in an even better position, especially with Marong’s projected growth.

“It could be made into one of the best football grounds in the league,” Mr Turnbull said.

Marong’s Greg Toomey said there were three junior games on the main oval last Sunday.

“The Auskickers had to shift up to the top “oval” on the inside of the trotting track,” he said.

“At the moment the main oval is just coping, but like all ovals with a lot of traffic on them in the winter, it’s only a wet week or two away from messy.”

FOOTBALL and netball clubs in Bendigo’s most urbanised areas might be struggling for space, but that’s not the case beyond the city’s boundaries.

Calivil United Football Netball Club president Glen Scholtes said the club had use of two venues- the Calivil Recreation Reserve and Raywood Recreation Reserve - but could use more players.

The under 18s side is the most junior football team in the club, and has capacity for more players.

Mr Scholtes said travel time was a concern for families based in Bendigo.

“We used to run a bus for our under 18s,” Mr Scholtes said.

As the majority of the team is comprised of players from Raywood, he said the club couldn’t see the feasibility of continuing the bus.

It’s a decision Mr Scholtes said the club might review if there were more players from Bendigo.

“The difference is, the [players] get a game,” he said.

A lack of junior teams in East Loddon means some families travel to Bendigo to play football.

“If the Loddon Valley league got together and decided to create a [junior] football team it would be a good asset,” Mr Scholtes said. 

He said there was a risk the region’s footballers might remain at Bendigo-based teams where they played junior football.

Calivil is about 50 minutes’ drive from Bendigo, while Raywood is about 25 minutes from the city.

As Bendigo grows, the population’s idea of what constitutes a suburb also shifts.

Just as Marong is expanding, so too is Strathfieldsaye.

Strathfieldsaye Football Netball Club vice-president Rod Barty said team numbers had been fairly consistent for the past two or three years.

But, as the area grows, the club expects sports participation is ‘only going to get bigger and bigger’.

Mr Barty was aware the council had earmarked land in Strathfieldsaye for further ovals.

“I’m not sure how far away that plan is,” he said.

He said the club had raised the need for additional facilities with the City of Greater Bendigo during an informal meeting.

Strathfieldsaye Football Netball Club has two ovals at its disposal for football, but more than 20 junior teams, three senior teams and women’s teams.

“It gets trained on every night of the week. It really takes a battering,” Mr Barty said.

Strathfieldsaye has been identified as one of a number of growth corridors within the City of Greater Bendigo.

The area is expected to be home to a total of 2161 children by 2036 - an additional 1181 children aged up to nine years.

There are no simple solutions to the growing need for sports fields within Bendigo, the regional sports assembly said.

Sports Focus business manager Stuart Craig said clubs were trying to find ways to make the most of the available facilities.

But the organisation has acknowledged a need for more sports fields to accommodate an increase in people playing sports such as football, and in the city’s population. 

“As an organisation we’re encouraging people to participate [in sport], but we need facilities in order to do that,” Mr Craig said.

In a social media post, Sports Focus called for government support at all levels to provide the necessary facilities.

Mr Craig identified the rise of women’s football as a source of growth.

The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation’s Dr Bridie O’Donnell encouraged clubs and organisations to apply for programs such as the Female Friendly Facilities Fund to help create infrastructure.

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