By Michael Esposito and Luke D’Anello
THOUSANDS of potential soccer players are being turned away from clubs because the allocation of grounds is not keeping up with growing demand for the sport, according to a recent report.
The independent survey, conducted by Sports Business Partners and commissioned by Football Federation Victoria (FFV), estimated 5718 people were turned away from FFV-affiliated soccer clubs this year, mainly due to lack of facilities. The survey received responses from 56 council administrators and 226 club administrators.
The rising demand for soccer and the inability to satisfy that demand is not a new issue, but it is a growing one.
Williamstown Soccer Club president Igor Zlateski said his club would have turned away up to 100 players, mainly juniors, this season, because one of the club’s two allocated grounds was unfit for play.
“We’ve had two grounds made available to us by the council. One of them last year was in such a bad condition we weren’t able to play on it. We were left with one ground to share (between) nearly 19 teams, so the problem was because of the influx of kids coming in, we had no other option but to turn them away,” he said.
“If we had the facilities, we could have 1000 kids. We don’t even promote the club.”
Zlateski said this year’s registration day attracted 300-400 children.
“If you’ve been there more than three years, you’re basically guaranteed a spot next year, if you’re a newcomer, you just hope one of these kids falls out, and that’s how you get in.”
Sand soccer – the drought plays its part
Compounding the problem has been the recent drought, which has rendered several playing surfaces unsafe. Hoppers Crossing Soccer Club president Peter Wilkinson said the drought has caused havoc for sporting clubs.
“Grounds weren’t repairable because they (the council) couldn’t water them,” he said.
“We had two grounds that were unplayable. In reality it’s not something that you, me or any club can fix, because it was driven by the drought and a lack of water.”
Hoppers Crossing, like Williamstown, also had only one ground available for play this year, due to the secondary pitch being drought-affected. This in turn has caused the club’s main pitch, at Grange Reserve, to get torn up under the strain of constant traffic.
But insufficient facilities was just one of a myriad of factors limiting the scope of clubs to accommodate extra players, according to Wilkinson
He said a lack of coaching staff and negligible parental involvement also contributes to clubs not reaching their full potential.
“Most clubs make all endeavours to field every person who wants to play but if you don’t have coaches, you don’t have teams. If you’ve got two under 14 kids and you don’t have an under 14 or under 15 team then you’ve got a problem don’t you?”
Altona City Soccer Club is luckier than most – it has three grounds which are all in satisfactory condition. But even Altona turned away about 15-20 young players this year.
“We don’t like to turn people away, because we see ourselves as a community-based club, and we want to cater for anyone,” Altona president Ray Chetcuti said. “We don’t turn people away ourselves because of facilities. We’ve had instances where from two teams we could have two-and-a-half teams, but that’s no good to us, because half a team can’t play. They’re the only ones who get turned away.
“But our numbers are sort of sitting at a point where we have got a lot of kids for our facilities, but we’ll trying to work to improve those, to make sure we can grow and keep accepting those kids.”
Council’s offside? – the role of the rates
MOST soccer clubs are at the mercy of councils when it comes to the allocation of grounds.
Club members pay council rates and expect their outlay to be fed back into their club. When dilapidated changerooms remain untouched for years, even decades, members get justifiably upset.
Hoppers Crossing’s Wilkinson, whose club resides in Australia’s fastest growing municipality – Wyndham, said several clubs could not expand due to sub-par infrastructure.
“Clubs want to expand but they’re playing in facilities with poxy changerooms, dirty toilets and one ground, and they expect to expand. The demand for soccer is ever increasing,” he said.
Williamstown Soccer Club has had a council liaison officer but the answers they receive have left them wanting.
“We’ve a number of times discussed it with council, we have a liaison officer with the council but we’ve been told there’s no money,” president Zlateski said.
“There’s no money to upgrade the facility, there’s no money to develop. They say it in a much nicer way, but that’s the reality.
“We need at least four changerooms but we’re nowhere near it. Nor can we accommodate anyone else.
“We’re in the hands of the council, and I don’t think there’s any club out there who is going say ‘stuff the council, we’re going to the bank and we’re going to get $1million and we’re going to build our own facilities and make our own grounds’. We’re amateur clubs, we can’t afford that.”
Hobsons Bay Council’s director of works and assets Phillip McDonald said council was aware of the soccer ground shortage and had received numerous requests from new and expanding clubs to have greater access to grounds.
“To accommodate this growth, the council is working with various clubs and groups that have expressed a need for greater access to sportsgrounds. As part of these discussions, the groups’ needs are determined to ascertain how current facilities can cater for this growth,” he said.
“The council will apply to the state government for funding to undertake a review of sportsgrounds to determine current needs and future demand for local sportsgrounds, as well as devising a more sustainable way of managing and maintaining these important facilities.
Mr McDonald the project would occur in 2011-2012 if funding was approved.
Brimbank’s burden – the municipality bursting at the seams
Brimbank has the highest number of soccer clubs in Melbourne’s north-west. The 2009 North West Region Soccer Venue Strategic Review and Feasibility Study identified 20 clubs in Brimbank, collectively providing 184 teams, using 37 pitches across 17 dedicated soccer venues.
Green Gully general manager Raymond Mamo said his club had to hire out venues this year because its training grounds were unsafe.
“That’s something I’ve taken up with council for a number of years and council are looking into assisting us this year,” he said.
“I think clubs are trying to the best they can. Brimbank council, to be fair, have got a lot of sporting clubs to look after. They may need assistance from the State Government or Federal Government.”
According to Brimbank Council’s community wellbeing general manager Kelly Grigsby, the recent drought has had a large impact on a number of sports including soccer, football and cricket in the municipality.
“To combat the effects of the drought and its impact on participation, council has been rolling out a sportsground refurbishment program, converting surfaces to warm season grasses and installing water tanks to provide additional water to grounds where suitable.”
Lost souls – where do the children go?
FORMER Socceroo Joe Spiteri sees the consequences of the problem first-hand.
Spiteri’s Soccer Pro Academy caters for players of all abilities, but some join simply because they have been turned away from clubs bursting at the seams.
With a shortage of grounds and lack of quality facilities among the obstacles facing soccer, players can be coerced to move towards other sports.
And joining an academy, of course, is more costly than plying your trade at a local club.
Spiteri, who is also affiliated with Werribee City and Point Cook soccer clubs, said supply failed to match the demand. The issue, though, is not confined to the West.
“I know both (Werribee and Point Cook) clubs have turned away players, due to not having the facilities to accommodate. It definitely is a problem,” Spiteri said.
“The hard thing is the demand for it, and it definitely is growing. They’re just not being given the right facilities to accommodate, especially in Wyndham which is a growing area.
“I think every club has the same problems. They just haven’t been allocated the grounds and, especially in the past with the drought, the grounds haven’t been suitable even if they did have the right allocation of grounds.”
Spiteri said Werribee has made a proposal for a redevelopment of Galvin Park.
An independent survey commissioned by FFV found 33 per cent of clubs were forced to use school facilities during 2010, while 44 per cent of metropolitan clubs hired synthetic pitches.
“I know that when the grounds haven’t been suitable, they’ve had to look elsewhere for other facilities at times,” Spiteri said.
“I think the council needs to look into what is needed and how many players are looking to play the game.
“I know football itself is growing and there are kids out there who want to play, but there just aren’t the facilities to play it.”
Club’s caving – something must be done
Melbourne Knights coach Ivan Duzel said soccer did not receive the necessary support from those above.
“We try to accommodate as many juniors as we can. Unfortunately, last season and the season before that the pitches were dry and there is not much you can do about that,” Duzel said.
“Everyone is struggling with these sorts of pitches. But what do you do? If the Government doesn’t want to put more money in, it’s going to be always like that.”
Williamstown’s Zlateski felt the service clubs provide to the community was “extremely undervalued”.
“If those clubs aren’t around, some of those kids might possibly play another sport. Some of those kids, once you take out the sport, can also become a social nuisance.
“There’s a lot of other clubs and other sports that provide that service. If they’re (the clubs) not around or not being looked after, sooner or later they’ll cease to exist. We can only push uphill so much.”
Green Gully’s Mamo said his club faced on ongoing fight to provide up to standard facilities despite winning the Victorian Premier League title in 2010.
Mamo admitted he didn’t know how to the problem could be fixed.
He added that clubs, to prevent ground-damage, needed to be wary of how many players they can accommodate.
“If we weren’t in a position to hire out Keilor Park, Caroline Springs, St Bernard’s College or Caroline Springs College, these children basically wouldn’t have a place to train,” Mamo said.
“Whatever we do – and we always try and improve our facility here at the club’s cost – is always done for the benefit of the community and the children of the Brimbank community.
“You want to get kids involved in the sport they want to play in, otherwise kids won’t play sport.”
Future football – where to from here?
Sydenham Park president Nick Manevski fears the situation may only worsen.
Manevski’s club is in the process of applying for a third pitch, and he praised Brimbank Council for its support.
“If we get that (third pitch) established, we wouldn’t be in a position where we have to turn away a whole stream of kids. We would be in a position to cater a lot more effectively,” Manevski said.
“But we’re really struggling because we don’t have adequate resources or ground facilities to cater for all the kids that want to play.
“Once you lose them at that grassroots level, they tend to not try out again and we want to be in a position where we can cater for these kids at an early age.
“They (the FFV) really have to have a look at it, because they are very serious numbers. I think the FFV can assist clubs more in this area.”
The survey also estimated 11,000 potential players have been shown the door during the last two years.
FFV CEO Mark Rendell acknowledged the role a lack of facilities is playing in the development of the sport.
“The results of this survey indicates that facilities continue to be a major barrier for football moving forward in Victoria…but we will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure continued growth and sustainability of football in Victoria.”
