By Tanya Faulkner
A local sports club is set to receive a facelift following a series of funding grants being shared with the community.
Boronia’s Tormore Reserve is one of several sporting facilities that have received Government grants to improve the sites for future generations and particularly for women coming through the local sporting community.
Boronia Hawks Football and Netball Club (BHFNC) senior vice president Wayne Preston said it’s been years in the making since the club first lobbied for a new clubroom.
“Back in 2019 both the football and cricket clubs lobbied for a new clubroom to be built, due to it being 43 years old at the time, and unable to cater for the boom experienced by female participation,” he said.
Other clubs in the state had been getting new clubrooms, or new standalone change rooms, to cater for their growth, which Mr Preston wanted to see in Boronia.
Both the BHFNC and the Boronia Cricket Club, who also use Tormore Reserve as their home grounds, are well established in the community having been around for 90 and 100 years respectively.
BHFNC is one of the biggest senior clubs in the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL), fielding three senior men’s sides and three senior women’s sides for 2023, with Tormore Reserve also known as one of the best grounds in the EFNL for both cricket and football overlooking the Dandenong’s.
They are currently hosting the Division 1 football finals series which brings thousands of people to Tormore Reserve and to the Boronia shopping precinct over a 4 week period.
He said the state of the grounds are well due for an up-lift, and is looking forward to getting works underway at the grounds.
“The current change rooms at Tormore reserve consist of one toilet cubicle and one urinal, which is totally unacceptable for a team of over 25 women,” he said.
Over the past 12 months BHFNC and the Boronia Cricket Club have lobbied to secure funding for those clubs that use Tormore reserve, and have come up successful with three rounds of funding going towards the grounds redevelopment.
The past year has seen Tormore Reserve be awarded $5 million from the Federal Government and $1.2 million from State Government towards the new clubroom, and a further $4995 as part of the State Government’s Boronia Revitalisation Plan.
Mr Preston said the funding is primarily for the construction of a new purpose-built clubroom.
“Of the $1.2 million from the State Government, Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor has allocated $200 thousand for the clubs to use for the ‘fit-out’ of the new clubroom,” he said.
He said the cost has always been the responsibility of the clubs, and is something they are extremely grateful for, as it dramatically reduces the financial impact on both clubs using the space.
Mr. Taylor also awarded BHFNC with $4995 as part of the Boronia Revitalisation Plan for the purchasing of equipment to allow them to continue offering the programs currently available to the community.
In a video shared to Facebook, Mr Taylor said this is fantastic news for the Boronia community.
“I’m a huge supporter of community sport, and it’s the volunteers at the grass-root clubs who build up like this and build up communities with what community sport does,” he said.
BHFNC has always been known for having one of the best sports grounds in the area, and the wider community can now look forward to having a new pavilion that will compliment the landscaping and grounds at Tormore Reserve.
Mr Preston said more importantly, the funding is just a reward for their volunteers.
“We have many volunteers who work week in and week out to enable our club to operate, and we couldn’t do it without them,” he said.
Despite having the second largest population within the City of Knox, Boronia is also one of the lowest socio-economic suburbs.
Mr Preston said with this in mind, the new clubroom will give the club members and the wider community something to be proud of, and will help them to compete with other sporting clubs who have already had upgrades.
“We already provide a friendly and inclusive environment for people to stay healthy and socially engaged, and now we can look forward to a modern facility to help facilitate the programs on offer,” he said.
This year the club have their eyes set on their teams reaching the top of the ladder this years’ premierships and to continue building and becoming a stronger club over the coming years, which the ground upgrades will be a big help.
Other sports grounds that have had funding put towards their upgrades include the Wally Tew Reserve in Ferntree Gully, JW Pavillion in Wantirna and the Boronia Bowls Club among others.
