After committing $50,000 to develop a feasibility and business plan for a regional soccer centre, the City of Greater Geelong has engaged with Football Victoria (FV) to further plans for the new facility.
Councillor Kylie Grzybek said that after a meeting on Monday, FV has committed to supporting the concept of a Geelong regional soccer centre.
“They have committed with us to engage with us throughout the entire process in terms of statistics, player numbers, and those types of things,” she said.
Grzybek added that FV was looking to renew previous plans to evaluate and renew Geelong’s football facilities.
“They’ve also looked to how they engage and renew the G21 soccer plan, which was done in 2010, and that is the document for Geelong concerning what venues have, what types of facilities are available, and what the overall vision for soccer in Geelong is. There are two different things there, the new facility and the G21 soccer plan, but they link together quite nicely,” she said.
Foddy Kyprian, FV’s club and regional ambassador for Geelong, stated the plan has the full backing of the member federation.
“We are having all the relevant government relations staff working with (councilors) Kylie and Eddy (Kontelj). The CEO Kimon Taliadoros has given his full backing to cooperate in every single way they can when working with Local and state government,” he said.
Grzybek explained that FV’s connections could create further opportunities for funding and improved facilities.
“They have great connections with both state and federal governments. Having the governing body on board with us is exciting, and we will look to how they help us get this up and running,” she said.
The City of Greater Geelong has also engaged with Mike McKinstry from the Geelong Regional Football Committee (GRFC).
“While councillor Eddy and I are spearheading this at the moment, we feel there is an opportunity for GRFC and Football Victoria to play their part in promoting Football in Geelong,” Grzybek said.
The opportunity of a regional state soccer centre is one the football community in Geelong deserves for their hard work in developing the game, according to Kyprian.
“The sooner we can have this stadium the better. We can showcase the A-League, the W-League and the FFA cup games we have,” he said.
“The clubs and the Geelong region deserve this. They’ve worked hard over the past 10 years to come together as a group. They deserve the reward for working together.”
