Thursday, 18 August 2022

Myrtleford Football Netball Club

Mr McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (17:14): (6498) My adjournment is to the Minister for Community Sport, and the action that I seek is her support, preferably financial support, to assist the Myrtleford football club at the McNamara Reserve in Myrtleford. Myrtleford is located in the Ovens Valley in a very high rainfall area of my electorate. Myrtleford is a town that punches well above its weight when it comes to sporting teams in both soccer and AFL. I often say teams like Myrtleford, when they compete in the highest soccer level and the highest AFL level in regional Victoria, have their male athletes split in two, so for either of them to do well—and they both do very well in their chosen sports—is quite impressive in a small town when they are competing against towns like Albury and those sorts of places. The Myrtleford Alpine Saints play in the Ovens and Murray league, the premier league in north-east Victoria and one of the few top leagues in Victoria.

A small town like this needs to make every post a winner when it comes to fundraising and when it comes to game-day profit to ensure that they can financially survive in these demanding leagues that they play in. If they miss one week as a home game or they miss fundraisers because of anything, whether it is inclement weather or whatever it might be, it can really cost them dearly. They just cannot afford that. Now, a recent downpour of 80 millimetres of rain rendered the ground nearly unplayable. That is not new to this community; it does rain up there, and it can rain quite considerably. The action, as I say, is to get some support from the minister’s department for this proud club to have the ground redeveloped over the summer of 2022–23. Drainage and better soil types can turn this ground around to be a premier ground, as are the other grounds in the Ovens and Murray league.

I have grave concerns that if we continue with wet winters and major downpours, games will eventually be shifted, and that just puts a massive strain on the cash flow of this wonderful football netball club. We cannot wait another year. We really need to act on this this summer, if we can, to reassure this club they will not be compromised again through poor weather conditions and that fundraisers and game days can always go on. If we get that drainage sorted, certainly that redevelopment over the summer period would certainly make life a whole lot easier for this town that is competing—as I say, punching above its weight—in the Ovens and Murray football league.