St Mary’s Sporting Club rewarded for continued grass roots development

In a historic announcement last Friday, St Mary’s Sporting club was awarded $1.17 million to upgrade our main pavilion, change rooms, oval amenities and netball amenities.  This is a massive win for our Club and recognises the hard work of our Board, our members and our supporters, to grow and invest in the development of our entire Club, our junior players and programs, throughout football and netball.  Minister for Sport, John Eren,  announced “We’re delivering the biggest investment in community sport in Victoria’s history – upgrading local grounds, change rooms and pavilions so everyone has the facilities they need to play and watch the sport they love.”

 “This funding recognises the vital role local clubs play in their community. It will enable these sports clubs to grow and continue their important, positive work in Geelong.”  Christine Couzens, Member for Geelong.  We sincerely thank Christine Couzens for her advocacy and support, and for recognising the work of our Club in the implementation of our Junior Development Program three years ago and the ongoing development and implementation of our junior netball and female football program.  

 The funding commitment is part of a program of work that, is to date, the biggest investment in women’s and grassroots sport in Victoria’s history.   “We are absolutely thrilled with this funding announcement.  Over the past five years we have been implementing a program of work to develop our ground, pavilion, clubrooms, change rooms, netball facilities and last year commenced work on a female football program.  We have been back to the drawing board several times to try to achieve the best outcome for our members with a small budget. This announcement enables us to achieve all of our objectives for our members and will ensure that we continue to provide the best development environment for our entire Club and particularly our junior program across netball and male and female football. Our goal is to be a leader in junior sport development for the Geelong region.  To provide opportunities for juniors to participate across all sports, regardless of ability, and to grow and encourage the family values of our Club. We sincerely thank all involved in this announcement and the State Labor Government.” John Mc Mahon, Club President.

Image caption: Kevin Mc Mahon, SMSC; Christine Couzens, Member for Geelong; Premier Daniel Andrews; John (Jock) Mc Mahon, President SMSC; John Eren, Minister for Sport; Sean Blood SMSC