Carlingford Ovals shine bright

Easter has come early for ambitious North West Sydney Football side Roselea Football Club as the new floodlights were “switched on” for the first time in front of club members and local politicians on Friday 26th of March night.

Federal Member for Bennelong, John Alexander, City of Parramatta Lord Mayor, Bob Dwyer and Roselea FC club president Jeff Saul had the honours of turning the floodlights on for the first time on all three fields as the club’s junior players enjoyed the new lighting while participating in some small sided games.

Floodlighting is a such vital piece of infrastructure for any sports field. Sports lighting builds participation by allowing football infrastructure to be used at its maximum capacity.

In NSW, 45% of all sport lighting currently provided does not meet the minimum Australian Standards for training, i.e., 50 lux.

“The existing sports flood field lighting didn’t meet the Australian standards for night time football training,” said Roselea FC’s Vice President Rohan Primrose.

“The poor lighting at Carlingford Ovals simply meant that our club members were unable to use the site to its full capacity.

“We now have 50 lux lighting that meets the Australian Lighting Standards for training on all three fields at Carlingford Oval and we cannot wait to start using them.

“The close collaboration with all levels of Council staff and management  all worked well together to achieve such a fantastic outcome.

“We look forward to continuing our close relationship with all three levels of government and the DoE to bring about the remaining phases of the project plan.”, added Mr Primrose.

The floodlighting upgrade came to fruition thanks to $450,000 from John Alexander and the Department of Infrastructure and Cities grant fund in 2019. Also, $45,000 came through via the NSW Government, Community Capacity Building Grant via the Office of Dominic Perrottet which went directly to the floodlighting.

The funding provided was dedicated to the improvement of Carlingford Ovals, in particular floodlighting (Stage 1) and drainage works (Stage 2) which is currently in the planning stage with works to be completed this year.

Eight new poles with LED lighting have been installed covering all three fields at Carlingford Oval replacing the old wooden poles previously at the venue which only lit small sections of the fields.

Roselea FC have recently developed an infrastructure plan for Carlingford Ovals after the City of Parramatta recently renewed the lease of the ovals which are on Department of Education land.

The short to medium road map for Carlingford Ovals will ensure a cohesive approach as each portion of funding can be sourced.

The club has an eight-stage plan for Carlingford Ovals.

Football NSW Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure, Daniel Ristic stressed the importance of seeing facilities such as this gain a much needed upgrade to assist with the development of the sport.

“Football NSW is an advocate for community use of school facilities. Football is already experiencing over capacity issues across metropolitan Sydney, by improving infrastructure at schools such as Carlingford High School this will allow football clubs across NSW to meet current and future demand.

“Planning for Growth and Demand is a key pillar of the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy. School facilities is a key focus area within this pillar as football continues to identify sites not yet accessed by football.

“Many venues across NSW particularly metropolitan Sydney are already exceeding facility supply. If action is not taken now to improve infrastructure over the coming decade then the gap will widen and opportunities to play will be lost.”

The City of Parramatta is predicted to see a population increase of over 80,000 residents in the next 10 to 15 years.

With population growth and the FIFA Women’s World Cup being hosted in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 football predicts an additional 5,000 participants in the City of Parramatta during this time.

Roselea FC is excited for the 2021 season as they look to build on their 700+ members that registered in 2020 and played during an interrupted COVID-19 season.

Teams (males and females) will begin training under the new LED lights in the coming week with competition beginning after Easter.