DECEMBER 20, 2016 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
A new world to explore
(Dennis Manktelow)
There will be more for children to love about Swinburne Avenue Children’s Centre now that its $130,000 refurbishment has been completed. The Gisborne centre now boasts a new playground, a dry creek bed and a vegetable garden, all of which are designed to promote exploration, link existing play spaces and help children connect with the environment. Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas said high-quality early years education and care were vital to giving every child the best start in life. “We’re ensuring that children have access to early childhood services no matter where they live,” Ms Thomas said. “Investments like this will pay enormous dividends to local families in our community for years to come.” Swinburne Avenue is a two-room kindergarten that offers 112 four-year-old kindergarten places and 44 three-year-old places. The state government contributed $120,000 towards the centre’s upgrade with Macedon Ranges council contributing $10,000. JEMMA
Esther Lauaki
Footy’s female challenge By Esther Lauaki All but one sports oval in the Macedon Ranges will need upgrades to make them more female friendly for future generations, according to a new report. An audit of 80 facilities in the Goldfields region, including 11 in the Ranges and four in Hume, found most needed some level of improvement. The audit was part of the newly released draft AFL Goldfields Regional Strategy. The most urgent improvements required were found to be to player and umpire change rooms, as well as lighting for ovals and netball courts. “Over 80 per cent of the region’s home-and-away change rooms and 60 per cent
of umpire change rooms do not cater for female participants,” the report stated. It said investment in change room amenities was essential to cater for growing female participation in football and recognition of netball as a major sport in the region. The report cited a nearly 40 per cent increase in female football participation across the region in the past 12 months, including Ararat, Ballarat, Hume, Macedon Ranges, Melton, Mitchell and Moorabool. While only four per cent of all player numbers in the Goldfields region are female, the report stated that a one per cent increase in the next decade would mean an estimated 945 female players would require access to
female-friendly facilities. Macedon Football Club’s Tamara Collins starts as a junior coach at the club next year. Her daughter is one of a few girls who has played in the boys under 10 and 12 teams and will this year line up with the under 14s team. She says that her daughter has to share the boys change facilities or use the social club rooms where there are female toilets. “I’m really passionate about girls participation in football and I think that upgrades to facilities are a very positive move for the game. “My daughter has grown up with the boys and she is seen as a teammate and not just a girl … I think the club’s doing a great job of making girls feel included at the moment.”
But Ms Collins said the issue of growing participation in football “goes a bit deeper than providing changing rooms”. “It’s about having great female role models within the clubs and creating female leadership roles,” she said. The report made 26 recommendations and pinpointed issues that needed immediate planning and action, including a review of netball facilities and club structures to ensure club sustainability. The AFL Goldfields Regional Strategy is a collaborative effort by organisations including AFL Victoria, Netball Victoria and the 14 local government authorities comprising the AFLGoldfields region.