Kambah 2 Sports Ground is in desperate need of repair and maintenance. Photo: Daniel Oyston.
Tuggeranong United Football Club, boasting more than 3000 members, is the latest to voice concern over the lack of facilities for Canberra’s sports teams.
TUFC is one of Canberra’s largest sports clubs and club representatives have thrown their support behind Canberra Olympic’s call for the ACT Government to re-open 32 sports fields closed during the drought in the early 2000s.
At this time, there appears to be no appetite from the ACT Government to open these facilities in the immediate future.
Instead, the government has announced the availability of $49 million funding for new sports fields at Stromlo, including a synthetic grass sports ground.
The Taylor District Playing Fields will also be expanded under the funding announcement.
But there are concerns within Canberra’s sports community, with clubs currently bursting at the seams as numbers continue to rise along with demand for more facilities.
Steve Diggle is a TUFC NPL 14s coach, as well as a club life member.
A game between his side and Majura at Watson last week was called off after the playing surface was deemed unplayable.
Steve said the lack of maintenance of Canberra’s sports grounds was a recurring issue.
The NPL under 14s game between Tuggeranong and Majura was called off due to concerns over the state of this playing surface at Watson. Photo: Steve Diggle.
“It’s happened a fair bit over the years. We all pay hiring fees and taxes. Where does the money go? We are community clubs trying to get kids off their screens and into sport,” he said.
“In the case of the Watson ground, there were sections of loose turf, gaping holes in the goal mouth and no line markings.
“The sports grounds in Queanbeyan, Jerrabomberra and Googong are far better than we have in Canberra.”
The TUFC pays $94 a time to use a ground for training and $300 on game day.
Daniel Oyston is a Tuggeranong United board member and coach and believes financially sustainable clubs such as TUFC can do a far better job at looking after the facilities than the ACT Government.
“The ACT Government should let us look after maintenance of the facilities we use because the government doesn’t seem to have the inclination, money, resources or willpower to adequately maintain our facilities,” he said.
“One of the grounds we use, Kambah 2, has no disabled toilet and no dedicated women’s facilities. This is alongside the poor state of the pitch and fence.
“We would like the government to give clubs a peppercorn lease to develop the facilities if they are financially able to do so.
“At the moment our hands are tied because the facility is government-owned. We are not trying to push out other sports who use the facility, such as baseball, to the contrary we want to develop it as a community asset. If other sports are given those opportunities, why can’t football clubs?”
He has also suggested the ACT Government could reallocate the land provided for the development of the new ice sports facility, if there were plans to build it in another part of Canberra.
“We could build a community facility there. At the moment, we run our canteen out of a shipping container.”
With Canberra’s surging population, the city has long battled to keep pace with the increase in numbers and the demand for sports facilities.
It has required sports organisations, such as TUFC, to think outside the square to solve the issue.
Ideas put forward from TUFC and Canberra Olympic shouldn’t be dismissed.
