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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-05-01 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Kenilworth Football Club

Mrs POWER (Elder) (15:11): I rise today to heartily congratulate the Kenilworth Football Club on the development of their clubrooms, which were officially opened on the Saturday just passed. Kenilworth Football Club has a rich history dating back to 1907.

Mr Malinauskas: Go the Kookas!

Mrs POWER: Go the Kookas, indeed. The club is named after characters in Sir Walter Scott's novel Kenilworth. It is the second oldest club—only Adelaide University is older—playing in the SAAFL today. The early Kenilworth Football Club played out of the southern Parklands of Adelaide and enjoyed a great deal of success, winning the 1911 premiership in the Uniting Church Association before joining the SAAFL for the 1924 season.

Over the decades, the football club moved up and down grades and achieved various levels of success. One thing that is clear is that, since its early beginnings, it now stands as a club with an incredible sense of team spirit and a strong sense of community built on values of respect, being family friendly and inclusive and giving back to the community. This is obvious to anyone who spends some time at the club and with the players.

Today, I would like to especially congratulate the president, Ric Bowyer, John Schulz, secretary Megan Neindorf and other committee members and volunteers on their work in securing funding for the development of new clubrooms and seeing the project through to development. A very special acknowledgment should be given to John Schulz, who was a driving force behind this and spent countless hours completing grant applications.

When I first met with Ric and John at the club, they may have been uncertain where the funding would come from, but they were unwavering in their determination and commitment that their vision would become a reality. Fortunately, the member for Boothby, Nicolle Flint, was quick to get behind the club and lead the way by securing federal funding. This provided a springboard that enabled the club to then seek funding from the state government, local government and the AFL. I am proud that the state government has contributed over $400,000 towards the project.

As mentioned, the results of their vision and hard work saw the clubrooms officially opened on Saturday 27 April. It was fantastic to be there and celebrate this incredible milestone for the club. The new clubrooms include a bar, additional office and storage space, and a community meeting space and function room that lead out onto a deck overlooking their home grounds. The high-quality playing field on Laura Avenue in St Marys is surrounded by beautiful gum trees. The setting is so picturesque that you would have no idea you were in the suburbs only 20 or 30 minutes from the city.

The lunch on Saturday was made possible by all the hardworking volunteers and players who served guests, who even included police commissioner Grant Stevens. The 2019 season ahead will no doubt be an exciting season for the club. They have a strong women's league at the club, including under 16s, under 18s and a seniors team. Last year, the women's team made it all the way to the grand final. This season may be the season they win the premiership flag. The men's teams are certainly in with a chance after grades A, B and C all won their matches by a significant margin on Saturday.

The new clubrooms are also home to the Gaelic football team, and today I acknowledge their committee members, players and supporters. Since 2001, they have called the grounds in St Marys their home ground, giving cause for the creation in 2006 of the St Marys Park Sports Association, which was formed between the Kenilworth Football Club and the Gaelic Football and Hurling Association of South Australia to ensure that Gaelic football continued at the oval. Currently, close to 200 games of Gaelic football are played at the grounds during the summer over four nights per week.

There are currently eight clubs plus a league of social clubs for Gaelic 7s. As the state member for Elder, it is fantastic to have clubs like the Kenilworth Football Club, affectionately known as the Kookas, and Gaelic football and hurling association clubs in our community.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

Mrs POWER: Grassroots sporting clubs are about more than just sport; they help form the fabric of our community, building key skills in young people, even potentially building key skills in future leaders such as those across the floor. Grassroots sport is also about bringing people together, whether as a player, volunteer, committee member, spectator or fan. Today, I say a very big congratulations and well done to those two clubs in particular and, of course, more broadly, to all our local sporting clubs.

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