BOOST FOR DOLPHINS

THE Gold Coast Dolphins have been given $500,000 to help drive their push for female cricket participation.

The Dolphins, who now have girls and women’s teams, will use the government grant to make their changerooms female friendly in time for the 2019-20 summer season.

Club president Jeff Pfaff said the work would allow the club to provide bigger areas and allow for better privacy.

“Obviously our building is not dissimilar to other clubhouses built 20 or 30 years ago where it’s pretty basic and in the changerooms you have all of the toilets and showers in the same room effectively as where you sit and get changed,” Pfaff said.

“So we will be able to make them bigger and bring them up to Cricket Australia minimum standards for the changeroom size and split the toilets and showers out.”

Other phases of the plan include similar works to their match officials’ changeroom, plus the creation of an adjacent parents’ room.

Pfaff expects the upgrades will reap rewards for female cricket on the Gold Coast.

“Increasing participation for girls is all about the experience and there’s two ways that we do that,” he said.

“One is on field ways, so we have all-girls competitions, all-girls teams and we’re trying to expand that into the juniors as well.

“The second part of the experience is off field, which is the facilities and making sure that they are up to current standards and they make it easy for kids to have privacy to get changed.

“It would have taken us 50 years to save that much money, so that’s where we need the support of governments.”

Extensions are to begin in March or April next year, which would avoid disruptions to the coming season, with a view to being completed in winter next year.

The confirmation of the $500,000 grant caps an excellent week for the Dolphins after their men’s captain Michael Neser earned his maiden Australian call-up in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood.

If Neser is selected during the ODI tours of England and Zimbabwe, he will become the sixth player to represent Australia while being an active Dolphin.

Already in that exclusive club are Kim Fazackerley, Delissa Kimmince, Craig McDermott, Scott Muller and Andrew Symonds.

IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN US 50 YEARS TO SAVE THAT MUCH MONEY, SO THAT’S WHERE WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF GOVERNMENTS DOLPHINS’ JEFF PFAFF

Plans for the Dolphins upgrades (pictured with artists’ impressions) are tipped to boost the women’s game, which has delivered the likes of Delissa Kimmince.