BIG MONEY BALL
NQ Football sorely tempted by Palmer’s $ 100k
RISING maintenance costs and reduced income has left the NQ Football Ltd board considering a $ 100,000 sponsorship offer from Clive Palmer.
NQ Football general manager Declan Carnes opened up to the Townsville Bulletin about the state of the game’s finances in the region as the battle to manage rising maintenance costs continued.
Mr Carnes said NQ Football had secured sponsorship from a number of businesses this year, but the organisation was “still behind in maintaining profitability” due to large costs of running Brolga Park.
Annual costs include field mowing ($ 66,500), council rates ($ 41,760), electricity ($ 36,000), irrigation repairs ($ 25,000), line marking paint ($ 24,685), aeration and fertiliser ($ 23,252), light replacements ($ 13,200) and general repairs ($ 10,000).
Mr Carnes said they had lobbied all levels of government for more support, but were facing having to increase fees in a bid to keep up with maintenance of Brolga Park’s 23 fields unless more funding could be secured either through government or sponsors.
The fields had experienced irrigation issues and the drought- like conditions had taken a toll on the infrastructure, with “major leaks” occurring on a regular basis.
“When we fix one line, quite often another line blows and we are forced to call in a vacuum truck at a large expense to find the new leak,” Mr Carnes said.
Mr Palmer offered a $ 100,000 sponsorship to the organisation as he launched a charm offensive in the region last week.
Local clubs were split on whether to take up the offer or not, with a number of sources eager for any sort of finan- cial benefit to the sport, but some questioned how much money would filter down and were cautious of the details of any sponsorship deal.
Mr Carnes said there was not enough money to cover the park, “let alone put funds aside for the building works and repairs”.
He said the facility had only three female toilets to service more than 5000 visitors each weekend.
Mr Carnes said Townsville City Council had been “excellent” in helping the NQ United National Premier League team, but other levels of government remained tight- fisted.
He said Education Queensland usually paid a “small amount” to use the fields but it could not match the $ 8000 booking sheet this year, instead paying $ 3000 for schoolkids to use the facilities.
“The number of children playing sport is reducing due to rising costs and in the end if the Government does not assist the Federal Government will pay more through health and the Medicare system for these children as they become adults,” Mr Carnes said.
He said some schools had advised kids couldn’t afford the bus fare to travel to the fields, so NQ Football was hoping to deliver a free football program to schools.
“This is where sponsors come in and it really doesn’t matter who is handing over the money to assist this not- for- profit, it will all help children play sport in the end,” Mr Carnes said.
A Queensland Sport and Recreation spokesman said the State Goverment had invested nearly $ 2 million into football in North Queensland since 2015.
The spokesman said that included nearly $ 100,000 to Townsville Football Limited to upgrade the irrigation system of the council’s Brolga Park fields in 2016.
The next round of funding opens next month and the spokesman advised local juniors may be eligible for a $ 150 Get Started voucher to help with the cost of registration fees.