Oak Flats Junior Soccer Club president Ryan Bradbury says the new $1 million upgrade committed to Panorama Oval will help bring the club into the modern age.
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It was announced last week that Shellharbour City Council will receive $1,013,333 for a new amenities building at the oval, which is the home of Oak Flats junior footballers. Money was made possible through round one of the state government's Multi-Sport Community Facility Fund. Bradbury said the project had been a "long time coming" for the club.
"We've been in a holding pattern for a couple of years now, without being able to do improvements on what we've had, knowing there would be a review and an upgrade. But it sounds like it will be even better than we expected," he said.
"It's a massive improvement for the club. Realistically, our current facilities are almost unusable, to the point where they don't meet council regulations so we haven't used the change rooms for some time. It's really just a canteen and a storage room more than anything. This will allow the kids to have change rooms that they can use and accessible storage facilities for us, which hopefully attracts improved [member] numbers, because we've been in a slight decline, especially during COVID.
"I think this year, we have about 190 [members], and we were at about 240 two years ago, so there's been a marked decrease. And the difficult part is once you lose an age group, they're gone for that generation, so it's really important to keep on top of that. But this will be a nice push for us to improve the facilities, attract new kids and new families, and hopefully rebuild the club.
Shellharbour Council Mayor Chris Homer said the $1 million project was a "big win" for the community.
"It's great, it's wonderful news - especially for Oak Flats," he said.
"It will modernise the oval and there will be modern-engineered facilities out there. And it's just really good for the Oak Flats area. Some of the suburbs in Shellharbour City are seen as lacking the loving resources here and there, so I think it's a wonderful win for Oak Flats and that area of the city.
"This one will, across the board, be unanimously celebrated, no doubt."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
