Northern NSW Football has applauded Lake Macquarie City Council for acknowledging the need for the more female-friendly sporting facilities after identifying its own strategy to address the issue.
As the Newcastle Herald reported on Monday, council approved a notice of motion to investigate the issue and work with clubs to facilitate equitable participation opportunities, including the upgrade of facilities.
Northern NSW Football and Football NSW have created the Better Facilities, Connected Communities infrastructure strategy to ensure venues can be used at full capacity, with inclusive facilities, through proper planning for future growth via partnerships with government and industry partners.
The strategy was formed after an audit in 2018 of every single football facility across NSW.
The audit found four out of five facilities didn't have cubicles for showers, while 20 per cent had no changerooms at all.
"That's just totally unacceptable when it comes to girls and women," Northern NSW Football CEO David Eland said.
"They need somewhere they feel safe and feel comfortable.
"When you're at a venue with only two changerooms, it makes hard when there's multiple fields and girls within boys teams."
Mr Eland said there had been a 58 per cent increase in the number of females playing football in Northern NSW since 2014 and he expected that to explode after the FIFA Women's World Cup comes to Australia in 2023.
"This is why an investment in facilities is absolutely critical," he said.
The overarching strategy will be complemented by 26 local facilities strategies encompassing each of the member federations' associations and zones, which Mr Eland said are soon to be released.
Mr Eland said once the local strategies are ready, the organisation would be meeting with councils and MPs and "making them aware there is an acute need for investment in grassroots football facilities".
"We know that councils find it really difficult to satisfy providers of all sports and recreational pursuits, but what you cant deny is the mass participation in football," he said.
"There's 1.8 million football participants in Australia, which is double that of AFL, and more than double netball."
In addition to the infrastructure strategy, Northern NSW Football also established a facilities fund, which is currently in its third year, which each player across the region contributes to in addition to their registration fees.
Clubs apply for money from the fund to put towards facilities upgrades, and Mr Eland said the impending local facilities strategies would help the organisation prioritise which clubs to assist through the fund.
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