Club calls for rooms upgrade
FEMALE soccer players are being forced to change clothes in their cars as a Geelong club continues to plead for help to build new club rooms.
Bell Park Sports Club has one of the highest number of female players around Geelong, but says it cannot respond to the increasing demand without an urgent up- grade. For years, its female players have shared change rooms with males, but the limited space has often forced them out of their own facility.
Club president Rose Pirrottina said the lack of privacy for the players was heartbreaking.
“I’ve got girls at training sometimes changing in their cars,” she said.
“I get so emotional about that because I feel responsible for it, I feel I need to protect their safety.
“I don’t know who is looking. How would you feel if that was your sister or your daughter?”
Toilets and temporary curtains were also used for makeshift female change rooms, Ms Pirrottina said.
“They can’t change freely and they always need to be careful if someone is going to walk in,” she said.
“They actually don’t feel like they’re on an equal playing field (with males).
“They always feel like they’re the ones who get left behind and that there’s no importance to female soccer.”
This year, the club has more than 70 registered female players, with teams spanning from miniroos (aged 11 and younger) to seniors.
The club needs $750,000 to overhaul its complex, which would include building a new unisex facility with two change rooms designated for women.
Ms Pirrottina said its existing facility was in poor condition and plagued with issues, including termites.
Representatives from the club recently met City of Greater Geelong councillors Eddy Kontelj and Anthony Aitken to discuss the importance of the upgrades.
The club is also preparing to lobby the State Government for funding.
Ms Pirrottina said a solution was desperately needed, claiming the current facilities were driving women away from the game. “It’s actually a deterrent for us,” she said.
“We are growing in line with the FFV (Football Federation Victoria) vision, but what’s happening is our facilities aren’t allowing us to grow.
“It’s stunting our growth in female participation.”