THE Swan Hill Soccer League finally has a home to be proud of, with the official opening of its new clubrooms on Tuesday.
The $1.4 million facility was officially opened by Member for Northern Victoria Mark Gepp, Swan Hill Rural City Council Acting Mayor Cr Bill Moar and Swan Hill Soccer League president Sue Fox in front of a large crowd of officials, club members and tradespeople – all of whom had a major part to play in the new facility.
The facility includes four unisex changerooms, two unisex umpire facilities, accessible toilet, social rooms, first aid and storage facilities, with Cr Moar noting at the opening that the facility will be a benefit to not only the soccer league, but the community in general.
“Soccer is fast becoming a popular sport in this region and our soccer community now have a fantastic new facility suitable to their needs,” Cr Moar said.
Following the opening, Swan Hill Soccer League president Sue Fox told The Guardian what the new facility would mean to her club and its future.
“It’s going to mean increased numbers within our club, both with juniors and seniors, more prospect of hosting social functions, and we’ll be able and host more community groups here that may have specific needs as well,” she said.
“Women’s participation in soccer and sport in general is a growing demographic and is a big focus area of our club.
“We’re trying to build our women’s team up and encourage as many girls and women to come play this great game – and this facility with dedicated changerooms will help with that.
“We have another group of women who would like to play sport but are unable to do so with men due to their religious beliefs – so they will now be able to come and freely use this facility and have a place where they feel comfortable.”
While there are many parties who have been major contributors to the project, Fox paid particular thanks to not only the state and federal governments and Swan Hill Rural City Council, but those who had contributed many hours of hard work in the building of the facility.
“I’d like to thank all the funding bodies and the council, but I’d particularly like to thank and congratulate (the builders) and all of their workers and the many, many tradies who have all been involved in this project – it looks amazing and they have all done an incredible job,” Fox said.
“There’s been tradies here at this venue for the last eight months and they’ve done an amazing job – this building will really be a statement piece for Swan Hill.”
