Plympton Sporting and Recreation Club

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (15:14): The Plympton Sporting and Recreation Club is located at Plympton Oval in the suburb of Plympton Park, with the Morphettville Racecourse as a direct neighbour. It consists of both junior and senior football teams, cricket teams and soccer clubs. It is used by approximately 750 participants. Plympton Oval is the largest publicly accessible grassed area in the suburb that has seen gentrification and high-density housing development occur.

The oval is used by many local residents for passive recreation when sport is not being played. The facility itself is used all year round and is home to many local clubs and sports, with large numbers of junior and senior footy participants, along with cricket and soccer. Demand is growing. In 2017, the club added two junior girls' teams to the mix and at the same time the football club celebrated its 80^th anniversary.

The success of the girls' football teams saw the club field four female teams in the 2018 season. In fact, the girls' under-16 team made it through to the grand final this year, only to be narrowly defeated by two points after mounting a last quarter comeback. The under-13 and under-14 junior boys' teams also made their respective grand finals, but unfortunately they were the runners up on each occasion. The under-13s were beaten by another local Morphett team, PHOS Camden, and congratulations to those boys.

This coming weekend, the under-15 boys will be facing off against the Payneham Norwood Union Football Club in their grand final and, although they will go into the game as underdogs, they have played well all year and thoroughly deserve their place in the grand final. I wish them all the best.

The senior men's B-grade made their grand final, but unfortunately the senior A-grade team did not make the finals. A highlight of the year, however, was their home match in August, when they played against local rival, Morphettville Park Football Club. This was the first time since 1989 that the clubs had played at Plympton Oval for premiership points. On the day, the junior under-11 boys' team ran out with the team and formed a guard of honour prior to the start of the match. In windy conditions, the Bulldogs came out the winners by four goals.

In recent years, the club has had some upgrades, including new light towers, an internal fit-out of the change rooms, an upgraded playground and a new electronic scoreboard. These indicate the significance of the oval to the surrounding community for sports and also for local open space.

Unfortunately, the western end of the oval is prone to drainage issues and this results in boggy areas in front of the clubroom, the car park and also the western pocket, alongside South Terrace. In 2017, which was a wet winter, the water would be found pooling on the surface of some parts of the oval for days afterwards.

Club president, Trevor Bruce, and junior football club president, Jamie Morgan, met with me prior to the election and explained that the oval's muddy condition had been an ongoing issue for over seven years. The oval's condition has meant that in the past the club has had to cancel training or go to other ovals, which has caused an added cost to the club, as they have to hire an alternate oval. To try to provide a solution, the club has been liaising with the Marion council to upgrade the surface. However, previously, funding was not forthcoming.

Prior to the election, the Liberal Party made a $100,000 funding commitment towards the upgrade of the playing surface and drainage at the Plympton Sporting and Recreation Club. I am pleased to say that in August the Minister for Sport and Recreation and I visited the club to announce that the funding agreement for that $100,000 had been finalised with the Marion council. I have enjoyed working with the clubs and the Marion council to work through a range of solutions.

The council is also contributing to the upgrade and has also been able to coordinate a reticulation upgrade at the same time as the drainage works, utilising the same trenching. Work is scheduled to commence at the end of the winter football and soccer season. As a passionate supporter of grassroots sports, I am really pleased to have secured this funding commitment towards the upgrade of the playing surface and drainage at the Plympton Sporting and Recreation Club, which will help provide pathways for young people to pursue their sporting dreams and encourage as many people as possible to participate in sport and lead healthy and active lifestyles.