Photo: Brimbank Buzz - Brimbank City Council

In Brimbank, we have long recognised the power of football in engaging the community.

We’ve submitted our EOI to Football Victoria to be considered for this amazing development, and now we’re keen to get a better understanding of the project requirements, parameters and timelines.

It’s also important to Brimbank that we are able to discuss how community access and local women’s and girls’ football would be considered as part of any new home of the Matildas’.

As a Council we’ve been doing a lot of work around the needs of the Brimbank community in terms of sports infrastructure and opportunities.

Our Sports Facility Development Plan looks at the infrastructure challenges faced in our community and has identified local sports facility needs for the next 10 years.

Community access and promoting local women’s and girls’ sport is a really important piece of that puzzle, and a new home for the Matildas could be a perfect fit.

As it stands, Brimbank is well below the state average for sports facilities to population ratio.

Football Victoria’s State Football Facilities Strategy shows that Brimbank needs 19 more soccer pitches by 2026 - based on a 5 per cent growth rate.

Brimbank Council continues to invest heavily on maintaining, renewing and upgrading sports facilities and outdoor playing surfaces locally; and to seek funding and support to accommodate girls and women in sports, and address the high demand for facilities by our community.

We continue to empower and encourage female participation in sport through programs such as Brimbank’s In2Sport sports membership subsidy program, and the Brimbank Female Football Festival which will be held on 30 March 2019 at Keilor Park Recreation Reserve. More information www.brimbank.vic.gov.au/BFFF.

More than 3200 Brimbank girls and women play organised sport. This number continues to grow.