A $1.3 million City of Hobart Council project to help level the playing field for young women and girls has kicked off at the home of the New Town White Eagles Soccer Club.
“Participation in women’s sport is surging across Australia, and the number and quality of sporting facilities plays a key role in encouraging and sustaining this growth,” said City of Hobart Acting Lord Mayor, Helen Burnet.
“The New Town White Eagles Soccer Club, which calls Clare Street Oval home, is no exception, but the ability for more girls and young women to get involved with the club is hampered by the current condition of their change rooms and sports facilities.
The club’s current change rooms have no accessible toilets or lockable showers and are poorly lit, the Mayor said.
“This project will create a new, beautifully designed sports pavilion with four modern change rooms, two accessible toilets and 10 lockable shower cubicles – it will also see two separate change rooms created for umpires with their own showers and toilets.”
She said the old, separate toilet block will be demolished and replaced by new public toilets attached to the new sporting pavilion.
The project is expected to take up to five months to complete and has been partly funded through the Tasmanian Government’s Levelling the Playing Field Grants Program, which provided $450,000 for the project, with Council to contribute $850,000.
“The City of Hobart encourages greater participation in sport by everyone who wants to play and the upgrades to the Clare Street Oval change rooms will support this,” the Acting Lord Mayor said.
“Some young sports people, including girls and people with disabilities, may have felt excluded previously because of less than welcoming facilities.
“Everyone deserves safe and secure sporting facilities that help them be the best they can be at their chosen sport.
“The City of Hobart is pleased to partner with the state government to level the playing field for everyone.”
Clare Street Oval is home to the New Town White Eagles Soccer Club, and is used by Sacred Heart School, New Town Cricket Club and the local community.
