BRANXHOLME-WALLACEDALE Football Netball Club (BWFNC) has secured more than a million dollars to upgrade its Branxholme Recreation Reserve facility.

The club received $1.083 million from the Play Our Way program for the provision of new female changerooms for the club’s netballers and future female footballers.

The club has been actively seeking support from the federal government for over 12 months, with previous president, Daniel Menzel, the driving force behind the grant application.

The Branxholme-Wallacedale FNC was selected to receive the funding under Stream 1 of the Federal Government’s $200 million Play Our Way Program.

This program is designed to remove barriers, address discrimination and promote equality for women and girls to participate in sport and physical activity.

The $1,083,799 grant will lead to the modern female-friendly change facilities which will accommodate the growing number of women and girls participating in netball and AFL, addressing long-standing barriers to female participation due to inadequate and outdated infrastructure.

Branxholme-Wallacedale FNC president, David Pepper said the club was excited about the upgrade.

“At present the conditions for our netballers are very ordinary and thanks to the great work by Daniel (Menzel) and his team, the club will now enjoy state of the art facilities.”

“This means a massive amount to the club, and it means we will be able to recruit a women’s football program in the near future, while also giving the netballers a great facility that they deserve.

“We are looking to get one football team up for the 2027 season, as there are local girls who are going elsewhere to play at present, so we hope to have them playing here.”

The current changeroom and public toilet block will be demolished with the new structure to be built on the site with the public toilets to be incorporated into the new building, and the playground will also be relocated to a different section of the Recreation Reserve.

Menzel is the driving force behind the grant acquisition and said the hard work had paid off.

“It was a lot of hard work that the club has done to do a strategic plan whereby we had some clear strategic goals for what was required for the club going forward,” he said.

“We want to increase junior participation in both netball and football and this result is great for the club to help us achieve it.”

“Congratulations to Branxholme Wallacedale Football Netball Club for their successful grant application,” federal Labour Senator for Victoria, Raff Ciccone said.

“I’m certain these projects will have a very positive effect for women and girls in Wannon.

“Every person has the right to enjoy sport, in their own way and at the level that suits them, and the Albanese Government’s Play Our Way program makes this possible by promoting an inclusive environment.”

Branxholme-Wallacedale FNC released the following statement regarding the announcement.

“This is a Stream 1 grant in which a power upgrade for the entire Recreation Reserve and a new septic system is also included.

“This is on the back of earlier receiving a Stream 2 grant for $50,000, with these grants designed to greatly enhance our female participation in our community, not just for our existing and future netball program, but also for bringing female football to the club and its development in the near future.

“Having listened to members and the community on what the club needs to do to move forward, a strategic plan was put in place, alongside an infrastructure plan with a look forward to developing a better, stronger football netball club, and it’s wonderful that this part of that planning has taken this massive step.

“Being able now to execute what was a huge strategic imperative for our future has us overjoyed and excited to not only see these plans come to fruition, but also for what this means for our future.

“The new changerooms will give unprecedented space and comfort for our netballers and future female footballers, which is something we know that they will greatly appreciate, and the power upgrade allows the club the scope for further development in the future but will also significantly help with what we have at present.

“We speak on behalf of everyone within the Branxholme Wallacedale FNC, the local community and its future members as well, when we say how thrilled we are with this news, and we cannot let this announcement go past without saying thank you to the Recreation Reserve Committee for its assistance in gaining this grant, and especially to the past and present club committee executive members for their incredible work to make this happen.

“We also must give an enormous thank you to Senator Ciccone, the Federal Government and its Play Our Way Program for seeing our vision for the future and supporting it such a vitally important way.”