'Female friendly' footy grounds fail in WA

FEWER than one in eight WA footy grounds is “female friendly”, sparking calls for better facilities for sportswomen.

An audit has revealed much work needs to be done to bring WA football grounds up to par, including lockable showers.

The WA Football Commission has carried out audits at 357 ovals across 290 regional and metropolitan community football venues, as well as at eight WAFL venues.

It found only 39 venues, or 13 per cent of those audited, have “lockable showers making them suitable for female use”.

WAFC boss Gavin Taylor said about half of all female football played in the State was at facilities “which are not considered appropriate for female use”.

“An important part of the facility audits has been identifying the improvements that need to be made to meet female football requirements, given the rapid growth in female football participation,” he said.

“Some of our ageing football facilities simply do not meet expectations for today’s female football players.”

Women’s football is the fastest-growing segment in Aussie rules, with 350 new teams joining competitions across the nation last year. Yet only a quarter of the 3000 grounds across the country can host women’s matches, figures from the AFL suggest.

A facilities furore erupted earlier this year amid reports of female AFL players having to get ready while sitting in cars or use changerooms without adequate toilet and shower facilities, sparking calls for a significant boost in infrastructure spending.

Former Western Bulldogs vice-president Susan Alberti led the call for better amenities after seeing women drive home covered in mud because there were no showers at a ground, as well as women forced to share open showers and a single toilet cubicle, sometimes without a door.

“The girls are different to the men, they don’t shower together,” she said. “They have different needs. We’ve got a revolution going on in this sport and we don’t have the facilities. They’re not asking for gold taps in the bathrooms, just for equal facilities.”

Claremont Football Club women’s team president Amanda Robertson said her players were among the lucky ones in WA, enjoying quality facilities thanks to a major upgrade of Claremont Oval.

Mr Taylor said he also wanted to see upgrades at other grounds, but admitted “facility redevelopments and upgrades will take time and cost money, which is why it is so important that we continue to make this an area of focus”.

The WAFC audit also found only half of venues have lighting, including 79 venues — or 27 per cent of those audited — with minimum community match-standard lighting.