Clubs are left cold

By Tania Martin
HILLS footballers have taken cold showers after local clubrooms were targeted in the latest spate of copper pipe thefts.
Silvan and Mt Evelyn were two of five grass-roots football clubs that have been targeted.
Woori Yallock, Kilsyth and Wandin were also left out in the cold after the wave of pipe thefts.
Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League (YVMDFL) chief executive officer Steve Walter said that players were affected by the thefts as they could not have hot showers after the game, and some kitchens and canteens were forced to close.
“It not only affects players and club members but it is a significant cost to the community,” he said. Mr Walter said that the theft of copper piping at clubrooms had risen in the past few weeks forcing clubs to spend hundreds of dollars on capping to reinforce the pipes.
“Some pipes had the water and gas turned off before being stolen and others were just cut off,” he said.
Silvan Football Club general manager Charlie Caputo said he arrived at the ground on Saturday 2 May to discover the pipes had been stolen.
Mr Caputo said it was a home game for Silvan and that with no hot water to the building, the club was in danger of having to forfeit the day’s play.
However, with the help of the Shire of Yarra Ranges, a plumber was called out to the ground and water was temporarily restored.
Mr Caputo said the club would have lost between $5000 and $6000 if the games had been forfeited.
“It was disappointed to arrive at the ground on our home game and to see what extremes people would go to make a quick buck,” he said. “What was stolen would have only been worth $50 and that could have wrecked the community’s day.”
Mr Walter said that surveillance had been stepped up at local grounds and warned members of the public to keep an eye out for suspicious characters hanging around clubrooms.
Shire of Yarra Ranges spokesman James Martin said that the thefts not only affected clubs but also the local residents.
Mr Martin said that the thefts would not only cost ratepayers money but would also create frustration and disappointment in the community.