Victorian Greens make election pledge to the Darebin Multi-Sports Stadium.

The huge demand for women’s sport facilities, particularly for netball and women’s soccer, is not being met by existing infrastructure in Darebin.

Many women and girls in our area have to use substandard facilities with no change rooms or adequate toilets, or travel right across the city to engage in community sport.

A new multi-sport stadium would provide four all-weather courts suitable for netball, basketball, volleyball and other sports, an additional four outdoor courts, as well as provide women’s change facilities.

The Greens are interested to explore the Football Federation Victoria’s proposal to make the John Cain Memorial Park the site of their new State Football Centre, and the new home for the Westfield Matildas.

Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, State MP for Northcote and Greens spokesperson for Sport:

“I welcome Football Federation Victoria’s plan to find a new home for the Westfield Matildas, Australia’s women’s soccer team. As the current home for Football Federation Victoria, John Cain Memorial Park would be the perfect place.”

“Women and girls deserve the same access to community sport as men and boys. It’s not good enough that female athletes in our area are getting changed in their cars before matches. We have to bring our facilities up to scratch.”

“Demand for women’s sport is huge and growing strongly, and we need to provide facilities like the Fiona Richardson Multi-Sport Stadium to show our commitment to gender equity at all levels of sport.”

“As a netball player myself, and a mother of kids who play netball, I know the facilities are not up to scratch for girls and women in this area.”