AFTER just one season at its Sovereign Drive Park complex in Armstrong Creek/Mount Duneed, the Geelong region’s youngest club Armstrong United FC will be moving to a new permanent facility at Central Boulevard in the nearby Warralily Village estate early next year.

PHOTO: The construction site of the soon to be new home ground of Armstrong United FC located on Central Boulevard in Warralily Village (Photo: Tonci Prusac)

The brand new facility, which is currently under construction and expected to be completed by April next year, will include two AFL shaped ovals able to accommodate two full sized football pitches – one of which will be floodlit - as well as changerooms.

Armstrong United FC is expected to be allocated one of the two grounds, with the other one to be used by AFL Auskick and other community groups.

The proposed move to the bigger venue is likely to fast track the Pelicans’ growth as a club in terms of participant numbers.

In its inaugural season this year, United had a total of 73 registered players across Men’s, Women’s and MiniRoos’ teams. Of this number, 29 players (or 40 percent) were females!

This number is expected to swell to well over 100 players and quite possibly even double in total in the 2019 season with the biggest growth expected within the MiniRoos’ ranks.

“The one thing that could put a brake on the rapid growth of the club, however, may be an insufficient number of coaches at the club, particularly with our MiniRoos’ teams,” says club president Michael Parker, who has overseen the club’s development from just a concept idea to a fully fledged sporting organisation over the past 18 months.

The club is currently on the lookout for coaches for both its Senior Men’s and Women’s teams, with interest already reportedly being shown for the Women’s team position.

”This will be an exciting opportunity for coaches who are looking to develop a team, as we look to rise the ranks of local football in the coming years,” said Parker.

“We are looking for the right people to come and build on our foundations from our first year as a club, further developing our exciting list of players as well as adding players that embrace our community-based culture,” he added.

As far as the Senior Men’s team is concerned, Parker says that no less than six players were turned away during the course of the club’s debut season in the Geelong Region Division 3 competition, due to full capacity.

This augurs well for the Pelicans, meaning there is a high probability the ambitious new start-up club will be in a position to field two Senior Men’s teams in the local competition in 2019.