A Labor Government will invest $3 million to rescue the Forestville Hockey Club and provide it with a permanent new home at Unley High School.
The funding consists of a new $2 million election commitment and $1 million already allocated by the former Labor government in 2017 to fund a synthetic pitch.
The 300-member club has clubrooms at Goodwood Oval at Millswood, but hasn’t played games there for many years as it lacks a competition-grade pitch.
The club was facing an uncertain future, due to unsustainably high venue costs at a Gepps Cross facility.
Both political parties committed to a new home for Forestville Hockey Club in 2018 at St Marys’ Women’s Memorial Playing Fields as part of $9m sports complex. However, the club was told last year that there was no longer any room for it at that new site and they were ejected from the project, again leaving them stranded.
“I’m so glad that we’ve secured a future for this brilliant club, if Labor’s elected. This Premier League Club has been living under a cloud for several years but if Labor wins the election they can breathe easy, knowing their future is assured,” said Member for Badcoe Jayne Stinson.
“Forestville is the oldest hockey club in the southern hemisphere, starting in 1905. They’ve won so many premierships over the years. We want them to be around for another century yet!” Ms Stinson said.
“Forestville Hockey Club’s proposal is outstanding. This new hockey hub at Unley High will reinvigorate hockey in the southern and eastern suburbs. It’ll also encourage school students to take up this dynamic sport. I want people in my community to enjoy the sport with certainty and in top notch facilities,” said Labor’s Candidate for Elder Nadia Clancy.
“The funding will pay for a competition-grade pitch and a single-level clubhouse at Unley High. It’ll feature men’s and women’s changerooms, a canteen and a little playground for kids too,” Ms Clancy said.
Forestville Hockey Club President Paul Blenkiron says the new hub will see Unley High School re-establish its hockey program. Mitcham Girls High School, Urrbrae Agricultural High School, Mercedes, Scotch, Concordia and Walford will also use the hockey pitch.
“The club was disappointed when we were told, last year, that the $9 million new sports centre at the Women’s Memorial Playing Fields would not include a synthetic pitch for hockey. Having said that, the Unley High School pitch will provide opportunities which weren’t available at the Women’s Memorial Playing Fields and we believe present a brighter future for us,” he said.
The development at Unley High School will provide both the school and our club with access to a new, local and modern pitch which is lacking in the South of Adelaide. Our members who live in the Unley, Mitcham and Marion districts, will save hours each week in traveling to Gepps Cross to train and play which will be amazing.
We have really appreciated the support and encouragement we have received from Nadia Clancy, Jayne Stinson and the Labor team.
Nadia and Jayne’s commitment to supporting grassroots sport by providing access to local, high quality, facilities is greatly valued by our club.
With a new local pitch we can grow our club membership through recruiting, developing, promoting and retaining young local players. This will also benefit the whole Hockey SA community.
Developing a local pitch is particularly important to support local women, young people, including school leavers, and families with young children to stay involved with hockey. We believe travelling to out of district venues, to train and play, has discouraged many people from continuing to play the sport they love.
So far, the Liberal Government has not committed any funds to the hockey hub, though the Department of Education has supported the project being built at the school.
The club is continuing to work with the Mitcham and Unley councils to seek further support.