A re-elected federal Labor government would put $3.5 million towards the upgrade and redevelopment of the clubrooms at Churchill Reserve in St Albans.
The funding will help redevelop the out-dated facilities to accommodate the senior and junior teams and allow for further growth in the women’s competition.
The project will include more change rooms to enable greater participation by women’s and girls’ teams, a synthetic junior pitch to enhance opportunities for young players to train and play and more storage and hospitality options.
St Albans Dinamo Football Club president Ilija Dragicevic said the club and its supporters have been calling for these upgrades for nearly two years.
“It’s been a long time coming for us, so it’s really big,” he said.
“It feels so rewarding that we’ve received this commitment because the improvements are so important for the growth of our club especially for the women’s program which has expanded significantly.”
In the last five years, the women program has gone from two teams to 12.
Out of the eight new changing rooms, two will be developed specifically for women.
“It’ll definitely help attract new members but also help retain existing players,” Mr Dragicevic said.
“We’ve found that competing with other clubs that have better facilities is quite hard and girls have chosen to leave our club because our facilities weren’t up to standard and didn’t meet their expectations.”
Mr Dragicevic added that the investment would help cement the club’s future.
“As a club we’re proud to have come this far,” he said.
“We’re all volunteers so we really do spend a lot of time improving our clubs so this is a big one for us in ensuring we’ll have a big future as well.”
Fraser MP Daniel Mulino said since St Albans Dinamo was outgrowing its facilities at Churchill Reserve, this funding would bolster their expansion.
“The club currently has more than 130 senior and junior women members, and this number continues to increase,” he said.
“This redevelopment will enable young people to get involved in a fantastic and inclusive club.”
