Tuesday, 30 October 2018

Gippsland hockey, touch football, soccer and local footy have a new venue to showcase local talents thanks to today’s opening of the revamped Gippsland Regional Sports Complex in Sale.

At the centre, Member for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing joined members of 1,400 player strong East Gippsland Hockey Association officially opened the new multipurpose hockey pitch and pavilion at the complex, made possible by $650,000 funding from the Andrews Labor Government’s Community Sports Infrastructure Fund.

Grassroots sports clubs are the lifeblood of our towns and they deserve modern, safe and inclusive facilities.

This project marks the start of an exciting new era for local sports, especially the teams in the East Gippsland Hockey Association who have been struggling without a quality competition standard pitch for so long, we’ve changed that.

The new multipurpose synthetic playing field ticks all the boxes when it comes to competition hockey and comes complete with lighting allowing for local development programs, training and matches to be staged at the venue day and night.

The new female friendly pavilion provides the perfect base for local clubs to build on their ranks, and encourage more women and girls to their sports.

And in a further boost to Sale, the new venue is ready to roll when it comes to hosting major state and national hockey competitions, bringing more visitors to the region and creating a more active Gippsland.

The Andrews Government is committed to giving all Victorians the opportunity to get out there and get active.

Across Victoria we’ve invested $420 million in community sport and recreation facilities including local and regional sports grounds, leisure facilities, parks, playgrounds, bowls venues and other sport and recreation infrastructure.

It’s backed by almost half a billion dollars from our 2018/19 Budget to ensure sport and active recreation goes from strength to strength.

Minister Eren acknowledged project partners Wellington Shire Council, East Gippsland Hockey Association and the John Leslie Foundation for their commitment financial contributions to delivering the new regional bowls centre.

Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing

“This fantastic new complex is an incredible boost to Sale’s sporting community. It’s a great place for hockey, touch football, soccer and local footy and will enable more members to play more often and to take their sport to a whole new level.”

“As Gippsland’s communities grow, the new complex will also provide even more opportunity for locals to join a club, test their skills, host big events and watch the best of the best, closer to home.”