Coral Sea Park a state-of-the-art facility in Eastern Sydney

Coral Sea Park

Sports field designer SPORTENG announced the successful completion of works on Randwick’s Coral Sea Park.

The upgrade of the park began in 2022 and upon its completion, the Eastern Sydney venue now boasts an impressive state-of-the-art facility that is in compliance with Football NSW Guidelines.

The new facilities not only boast a larger synthetic football field, but in the spirit of broad community engagement, the park now also features upgraded cricket nets. These upgrades are hoped to help to enhance playing and training experiences for a variety of sportspeople in the Randwick area.

SPORTENG, the firm hired by Randwick City Council to complete this project, is one of Australia’s premier Field of Play designers. They operate Australia wide and are recognised for their accuracy and strong culture of providing customers with on-time and on-budget project completions. SPORTENG has completed projects that range from community sport fields all the way to helping find surfacing solutions for professional sporting fields such as Melbourne’s Junction Oval and Paramattas Bankwest Stadium.

To meet the demands of this project, SPORTENG also worked alongside Smart Connection Consultancy and Statewide Civil, with the latter awarded to complete the project.

SPORTENG expressed their joy at completing the successful project and thanked their partners via their Facebook page.

“As requested by our client Randwick City Council, this upgrade will empower the community to make the most of this important recreational sporting hub,” they said via their announcement.

“The reconfigured field layouts and the new synthetic playing field will undoubtedly elevate the sporting experience for everyone involved.

“Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the Coral Sea Park project – our dedicated team, our esteemed partners, and of course, the amazing Randwick City Council.

“Together, we’ve turned a vision into reality and can’t wait for everyone to enjoy this fantastic facility!”

As noted by the firm, this new facility will be a vital contribution to the Randwick community. In having a NSW football compliant pitch, the park’s readiness for play comes at a perfect time as excitement for football is set to only grow following the success of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and Australia’s own Matildas in that global competition.

Hence, a facility like this comes at a time where participation in football is likely to continue to grow larger and it will provide many athletes both those committed and those new or trying out football to utilise world class facilities in their own backyard.

The success of this build as a predominantly football based venture will also bode well for SPORTENG as they can show their competency for building these facilities at a time when demand for new fields will deservedly be at a national all-time high.

The ball is now with all other Australian regions to recognise the opportunity and success that football has had on home soil and follow Randwick City Council by investing not only in the game, but also in local Australian firms such as SPORTENG.

Dandenong Thunder to enjoy $700,000 LED lighting upgrade at George Andrews Reserve

Dandenong Thunder lighting upgrade

Greater Dandenong Council and Dandenong Thunder have recently confirmed that works have commenced for new powerful lighting towers to be built at George Andrews Reserve.

The upgrade will cost $700,000 and is being jointly funded by Greater Dandenong Council ($500,000) and the State Government ($200,000) with a plan to improve the ground’s overall quality for both training and matches. They formerly had 200-lux LED towers and they will be replaced by 500-lux towers.

For the Greater Dandenong local council, the focus was to improve the facility for the community to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits through the increased amount of playable hours at the reserve.

Importantly, the project ensures that the Thunder have a ground that is up to professional competition and broadcast standards which means they can broadcast and host games that are viewed by a national audience, a huge step forward for the NPL Victoria club.

This broadcast upgrade also opens up the possibility to expand to national matches involving the Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City A-League women’s teams and an even more ambitious goal of hosting a Matildas game. The ground can easily hold 5000 people and the lighting and broadcasting standards will be fantastic after this upgrade.

Dandenong Thunder shared the positive implications this light upgrade has for the club.

“The new lights mean the club will be able to host a number of games, not only that but it’s a step forward to the clubs ambition to be part of the NSD (national second division),” a club spokesperson told Soccerscene.

“The support from local council has been nothing but fantastic, Dandenong want to be a sporting hub for the south east suburbs.

“With the FA cup we have seen A-League clubs play at local level clubs, having these new high powered lights we will be able to broadcast at a higher quality, no more yellow light broadcast.”

This news presents an exciting future for Dandenong Thunder and the matches played at George Andrews Reserve. The quality of training, matches and broadcasts has improved tenfold and it matches the size of the NPL Victoria side that have big ambitions.

CPKC and Kansas City Current’s major stadium naming rights deal a win for women’s sport

CPKC Stadium design

The world’s first professional female-football dedicated stadium – home of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current – will be known as CPKC Stadium, after an historic naming rights deal was agreed with the North American rail network company.

Formed as a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern rail networks in July this year, CPKC represents the first trans-North American rail network between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

CPKC has been a leading investor for women’s sports in the state of Kansas, and CPKC President & CEO, Keith Creel, was proud to announce the stadium naming rights deal.

“We are incredibly proud to sponsor the Kansas City Current and support this history-making project here in the city that is at the heart of our North American rail network,” Creel said via press release.

“CPKC has been a long-time champion of women’s sports and of investing in our communities. This stadium and this partnership with the Current will build on that legacy as together we write a new chapter here in Kansas City.”

CPKC will also hold naming rights to the stadium’s outdoor space for fans, which will be known as CPKC Plaza. This area provides entertainment for all CPKC Stadium attendees, including the KC Current’s official merchandise store.

It is hoped that the naming rights deal will kickstart further investment in women’s football across the region, which has been the cornerstone of the KC Current’s existence according to co-founders and owners, Angie and Chris Long.

“Our [KC Current & CPKC] organisations share a commitment to strive for excellence, invest heavily in our communities and raise the bar with global influence. We are extremely excited to work with CPKC on this historic agreement and know our partnership will create a long-standing positive impact!”

Further to its substantial investment in women’s football, CPKC’s establishment of a direct line between Canada, the United States and Mexico is expected to have substantial benefits for football supporters attending the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup.

Presently, though, the stadium naming rights deal demonstrates CPKC’s intention to be a key investor in women’s football across Kansas and North America.

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