Pictured at Parliament House today L-R: Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing Chief Executive Kylie Taylor, Netball SA CEO Ben Scales, Minister Corey Wingard and SANFL CEO Jake Parkinson
Community football clubs across the State are set to benefit from the State Government’s new Grassroots Football, Cricket and Netball Facilities funding program which opened today.
Announcing the opening of round one funding in State Parliament today, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing Corey Wingard said the initiative would see the Government invest $10 million over the next two years into grassroots community sports clubs, with a focus on increasing participation, particularly for females. Football and cricket will contribute an additional $1 million each, bringing the total investment to $12 million over two years.
The dollar-for-dollar grant scheme will therefore stimulate more than $24 million in total towards football, cricket and netball facility upgrades.
SANFL CEO Jake Parkinson said the organisation was pleased to be partnering with the State Government together with SACA and Netball SA to address a significant gap in sporting infrastructure across South Australia.
“This funding program will increase participation in football with an emphasis on inclusion and diversity through the development of quality, well-designed shared-use facilities,” Mr Parkinson said.
“With football participation growing at an unprecedented rate in recent years, there is an urgent need to develop new and existing facilities across the state.
“Football, cricket and netball clubs play a valuable role in all communities and this combined fund will support the health and growth of sport across SA.
Mr Parkinson said the AFL will contribute $1 million towards the program in support of its vision to grow football participation in South Australia.
Applications for the Grassroots Football, Cricket and Netball Facilities grants program are now open. For more details and to apply, click here