Lidcombe Oval has received a much-needed grant from the Australian Government, with a planned new changeroom set to provide increased accessibility for female athletes.
A $700,000 injection to the ground has been issued via the Government’s Play Our Way program, which allows ‘greater opportunities for women and girls to access, participate and remain involved in sport and physical activity’.
Along with the new changeroom, Wests Tigers will contribute over $300,000 to the upgraded Lidcombe Oval facility.
The Holman Barnes Group via Wests Ashfield will also make a significant monetary contribution to the upgrade.
Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare, was on hand at Lidcombe Oval to announce the commissioning of the project.
At Tuesday's presentation, Wests Magpies General Manager, Leo Epifania, discussed how the deal will benefit the Lidcombe Oval precinct.
“ We really needed a bit of a boost here. Having more change-rooms which cater better to the women’s game, that's where it's mainly aimed at,” Epifania said.
“ It cuts away all the crossover when there’s men’s and women’s games on the same day, which makes it a lot more professional, and respectfully, everyone now gets to use change rooms that are adequate.
I think the important thing is that we’re working really closely with Wests Tigers, because we always said that we wanted Lidcombe Oval to be an outlet if they needed it in any way for games or training.
Leo Epifania
“ The new funding means that as many games as they need to play here, or as many training sessions they need to have, we’re equipped with the right facilities to be able to cater to multiple teams at the same time.”
Over 30 Wests Tigers pathways games will be played at Lidcombe Oval in 2025, spanning NSW Cup, NSW Women’s Premiership, Jersey Flegg Cup, SG Ball Cup and Harold Matthews Cup.
Among these matches include the Magpies NSW Cup games to be played against Newtown for the Tom Raudonikis Cup and against the Dragons for the Roy Masters Cup.
