Facilities
Ken Gannon Awards
Media Release
$10.8m Mildura facility recognised as best project in the country
23 MAY 2024 BY: AFL VICTORIA
The $10.8 million Mildura Sporting Precinct has been honoured as a joint national winner of the AFL's annual Ken Gannon Community Football Facility Awards
The $10.8 million Mildura Sporting Precinct has been honoured as a joint national winner of the AFL's annual Ken Gannon Community Football Facility Awards for 2023.
The awards recognise best practice in community football facility development across Australia, along with the people, clubs and other stakeholders driving the best projects.
Located in Victoria’s Sunraysia region, around 500 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, the Mildura project, home of the South Mildura Sporting Club, shared the top national honour with the Baldivis Sports complex in Western Australia.
This Mildura project features an array of best-in-class facilities including brand new gender-neutral player and umpire changerooms and upgraded lighting to two of the three newly created ovals, along with other supporting infrastructure.
The facility, which will foster participation growth in the region with the development a beacon for female sport and inclusiveness, in an area with rapidly growing female participation, has already hosted the inaugural AFL Sunraysia Youth Girls Grand Final as well as a NAB AFLW fixture between Richmond and the Giants.
The Baldivis Sports Complex, located about 40 kilometres south of Perth in a rapidly growing part of the City of Rockingham, is a $20 million project comprising two new senior and one junior-sized football oval along with the addition of a new pavilion, gender-neutral player and umpire change rooms and toilets, among other amenities. Completed in 2023, the project provides brand new playing spaces for its home club, the Baldivis Brumbies Football Club.
The AFL congratulates the State/Territory best community facility award winners for 2023:
• WA (Joint National Winner): Baldivis Sports Complex Development - $2,123,000
• VIC (Joint National Winner): Mildura Sporting Precinct Development - $10,877,596
• NSW: Artie Smith Oval Redevelopment - $20,369,800
• QLD: Brighton Homes Arena Development - $75,000,000
• SA: Unley Oval Redevelopment - $5,200,000
• TAS: Blue Gum Park Redevelopment - $500,317
Click here for winning project case studies.
This award also recognises the incredible service to Australian rules football of over four decades by Ken Gannon. In a decorated career, Ken spent much of his last decade in the game developing the AFL’s interest and partnerships in this space, leveraging $500 million of outcomes for more than 800 community football facility projects.
AFL National Community Football Venue Lead, Amber Koster, said: “Community football is the foundation of the game and having welcoming, inclusive and modern facilities plays a big part in ensuring local clubs and the communities they represent thrive.
“The AFL is committed to providing well-positioned, welcoming, accessible, fit-for-purpose football facilities that support the game’s growth, taking into account the rise in overall participation and the surge in popularity of football for women and girls, making the need for gender-friendly facilities even more important.
“The AFL’s aim is to develop, upgrade or build an oval a week to cater for the growth in community football.
“On behalf of the AFL, congratulations to all State and Territory winners and all stakeholders involved in delivering these outstanding projects. These facilities will all have a significant, positive impact on their local communities and are wonderful examples of what can be achieved when stakeholders across different levels of government and football come together.”
Mayor of the Mildura Rural City Council, Cr Liam Wood, said: “Mildura Sports Precinct has become the centre piece for football in Mildura. The standard of facility combined with the inclusive nature of the design precinct means that the facility is not only the perfect environment for footballers, but also the perfect facility for spectators, coaches and umpires.
"The financial and on-going support from the AFL has been instrumental in the success of the facility to date, with more community benefit to occur through the partnership.”
Anthony Gauci from the South Mildura Sporting Club said: “The move to the new sporting precinct has undeniably been a transformative experience for the South Mildura Sporting Club.
"Since our relocation, we have witnessed a remarkable increase in player registration and a surge in community engagement creating a vibrant hub for families and supporters to come together, fostering a sense of community spirit.”
More about the Ken Gannon Community Football Facilities Awards here
