Time we all pitched in to help raise standards for the future


19 Jul 10 @ 04:18pm by Gill Foster

I HAVE so far resisted the urge to discuss politics in sport but there is too much steam coming out of my ears and I need to vent.

Let’s talk about gender inequality in football.

“That’s life, Gill,” I hear you say. Yes, I’ve heard it a million times but seriously, let’s get off our backsides and do something about it.

Women’s football and indeed women’s sport has long been in the shadow of the men’s game and will be for some time to come. It is about time we all got together and narrowed the gap by providing better facilities and grounds for the top women’s leagues in Sydney. Without good facilities and pitches we will always struggle to produce good football matches.

A quote from section one of the ground criteria for the top NSW leagues:

“ii. The surface should be even and flat with an adequate coverage of grass and be prepared correctly to include all line markings as required. The surface must be free of potholes, foreign objects and protrusions of any kind through the surface, or any deviations that could be hazardous to players or officials as they move across the surface.”

Yeah, good one. Just what is “an adequate coverage of grass” ... ?

I have been playing in the NSW Premier League for many years and am continually amazed at the sub-standard pitches we are told to play on. While the men get to play at stadiums such as Marconi and WIN stadiums, more often than not we are relegated to playing on the dodgy back pitches and parks that look like deserted mining towns. You even have to watch out for the odd tumbleweed coming across the dirt at you. Sometimes we play “spot the grass patch”.

Yesterday was the last straw, when a ball that I was about to comfortably control with my body hit a random lump in the field (possibly an old Mellow Yellow can or a piece of Noah’s Ark) and pinged up over my head to the opposition striker who slotted home a goal. The field we were playing on in the edge of nowhere (Bathurst) looks like it may have been one of the region’s premier local soccer (sic) complexes ... 40 years ago. It looks like it has been resting (abandoned) for the last 30 at least and possibly been recently uncovered by archaeologists. Don’t even start me on why we were there in the first place.

Is it just that I come from Manly United where we are blessed with Cromer Park. It is a fact, upon reflection, that most of the good football parks and stadiums around Sydney are in need of at least a facelift if not an overhaul. And yes, I can hear you screaming, about the paddocks you have to play on in the local leagues. I know how bad they are, I have to train on one of them, too.

So perhaps it is not so much about gender inequality here but about improving the standards of all football pitches and facilities. To be honest I think two things need to happen.

There needs to be more money injected into local sporting facilities by local and state governments. We are lucky again and grateful in Manly that this is happening here with the new artificial turf being laid at Cromer Park in January. This will mean that the field can be used 10 times as much and require 10 times less maintenance. It also means that the pristine state of the pitch at season’s start will remain constant throughout the year and so will the standard of football.

The other thing we need is more community involvement at a club level. There are scores of wonderful people who devote long hours to their local clubs, manning barbecues and organising competitions, but there are too many of us who just don’t bother.

Let’s start getting involved and donating our time and energy to help build better facilities for our children to enjoy now and in the future.

Start a fundraiser of your own or help out wherever you can. Every little bit counts, and many hands make light work.

It’s so true.
http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/time-we-all-pitched-in-to-help-raise-standards-for-the-future-1/