Thirty sporting projects across Tasmania will share in $5 million of government funding to improve grassroots facilities, with Kingborough’s Sherburd Park among the major beneficiaries.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Kingborough Mayor Paula Wriedt announced the latest round of the Tasmanian Government’s Active Infrastructure Grant program on Sunday, which aims to create more inclusive and accessible sporting spaces.
Sherburd Park will receive more than $925,000 in co-funded investment to build new changeroom facilities that cater to the growing needs of local sporting clubs.
“We want to encourage more Tasmanians to get active and participate in sport,” Rockliff said.
“This investment is backing sporting clubs and councils to improve facilities across the State.”
The grants will support a variety of sports including paddle sports, tennis, AFL, lawn bowls and cricket.
Wriedt said the Sherburd Oval upgrade would address significant barriers to participation.
“Fully accessible changerooms, and safe, modern amenities will open the door to more women, juniors and people with mobility challenges who have previously felt unable to use the ageing facilities,” Wriedt said.
“The new facilities will help strengthen membership across cricket and soccer and will support the return of women’s and junior teams that simply couldn’t be accommodated before.”
She highlighted how older facilities were built without consideration for female participation.
“When a lot of sporting change rooms were built in the 1960s for cricket and soccer and football, they didn’t really anticipate that there would be such a large uptake in future years of female participation in those sports,” Wriedt said.
The Mayor said Kingborough has a growing reputation as “the home of sports in Tasmania” with high-performance centres for basketball and AFL alongside grassroots development.
Premier Rockliff said the program recognises the central role sport plays in communities.
“By investing in modern, inclusive and accessible facilities, we are ensuring more Tasmanians can get involved, stay active and enjoy the many benefits,” he said.
Full details of all grant recipients are available on the Active Tasmania website.
