Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart (left), Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown (second from right) and St George Illawarra Dragons general manager of female football Sam Bremner (right) with representatives and players from Thirroul Butchers. Photos: Keeli Dyson.
Female footy players from Thirroul now have the same access to amenities at Thomas Gibson Park as their male counterparts, with new upgrades hoped to promote participation and a sense of belonging for young girls and women in the sport.
Being able to use a safe and appropriate changeroom at your local sporting ground may seem like a simple request, but for a long time, female athletes, even at the highest level, have had to endure inadequate access to facilities.
“It wasn’t too long ago that I myself was playing rugby league and we didn’t have changerooms, we didn’t have anywhere to get changed before a game or go into at half time,” Jillaroos legend and St George Illawarra Dragons general manager of female football Sam Bremner said.
“We used to do it either in the carpark or in a tent next to the clubhouse. That was only 15 years ago.”
But now the young girls who play for Thirroul Butchers will experience a different norm, with a million-dollar upgrade delivering all-gender team changerooms as well as accessible and ambulant toilets, a referees’ room, first-aid room and canteen facilities.
“It’s about respect for them,” Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown said.
“Too often, the female teams were being shunted to the backfields with no lighting, no amenities, and that’s just not good enough.
“We want a healthy community and wellbeing, so making sure that these young women and girls have the facilities they deserve is so important to us.”
The facilities are a basic necessity for the sportspeople, but also vital for creating connections and making memories.
“It’s where coaches say their great speeches, where players get motivated to continue playing a new sport and they go out onto the field, whether it’s League Tag, rugby league, that is where the special moments happen,” Sam said.
“These girls now have that ability to have those moments, to not have to do it in the carpark, to not have to share it with the boys, to not get to say and be who they want in those changerooms because they’re sharing it with others or they don’t feel like they’re supposed to be there.”
Sam Bremner is excited to see young female players enjoy opportunities that weren’t available when she was climbing the ranks in rugby league.
The need for these spaces is ever-growing, with more girls discovering their love for the variations of league.
“Female participation will make up at least 45 per cent of our total numbers,” Thirroul Butchers Junior Rugby League president Ryan White said.
”That ranges from under 8s League Tag up to an Open Women’s Tag team as well.
“It’s great to actually give the girls a safe space to go in there and get changed and participate and be involved confidently; it’s massive for us.”
The equal facility also sends an important message to all players using or visiting the field, while helping change perceptions for the next generation.
“I think the biggest thing for any sport is that sense of belonging,” Sam said.
“And in the past, once they got to an age where there wasn’t a pathway for them or there wasn’t a club that resourced them, they found their way to other sports or sometimes no sports at all.
“I’ve got young kids myself and I love the fact that my son’s just started here at Thirroul, and he thinks it’s normal that these changerooms are made for male and female players and I love that that’s his norm.”
The region now boasts equal pathways for elite players in the sport at the St George Illawarra Dragons’ new Community and High Performance Centre at the innovation campus, but it’s hoped that by building from the grassroots, more players will have the opportunities to fulfil their potential.
“If they’re not given an opportunity at the club level, they never actually make it to NRLW,” Sam said.
“It was really important that the St George Illawarra Dragons created a facility that was equal for both men and women, and the fact that club land is doing the same. Before we know it, we hope that every club is doing it and this is just the way that rugby league and League Tag is run — it’s equal for male and female.
“We see that in patches across the sport and we’re slowly closing that gap.”
But it will still take time and investment to get where we need to be.
Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart said: “The Minns Labor Government is really committed to ensuring that there are changerooms for both the girls and the boys when they’re playing and that they’re accessible.
“There’s a bit of heavy lifting that we’ve got to do, we know that, but this is a great start down here for the Thirroul Butchers.”
Cr Brown added: “We want every club to have this facility, but it is a long list.
“A lot of our clubhouses were built in the ’50s and ’60s and they are not up to the standard that they should be, so we’re working through that.”
