Maher Oval, Gissing Oval land NSW government funding for female change rooms

Both Maher Oval, which hosts women's AFL matches, and Gissing Oval, home to women's soccer matches, will receive $500,000 each to build and refurbish change rooms to accommodate female players.

Turvey Park Football president Simone Harmer, whose club play home games at Maher Oval, said the incoming women's change rooms came as "fabulous" news.

"It's just going to take it to the next level for us,"Mrs Harmer, who last year became the first female president of an AFL Riverina club, said.

Hosting their first ever women's AFL game over the weekend at their home ground, the Turvey Park women had to use the men's change rooms.

"They're obviously not set up for women, so to have that facility coming in the future, it's just going to be wonderful," Mrs Harmer said.

Owners of the respective Glenfield Park and Turvey Park grounds successfully applied for the grants through the NSW government's $25 million Female Friendly Sport Facilities and Lighting Upgrades Program.

In only its second year, Turvey Park has 28 registered female players.

"It's going to benefit them, it will benefit our netballers and it'll also benefit our men's teams," Mrs Harmer said.

While away teams can use the netball change rooms, they are entered through the women's bathroom, causing a problem for any male staff or coaches.

The Maher Oval funding will add to investments made by the operating Rules Club, which installed new lights and began work on replacing netball courts at the ground last year.

Rules Club business manager Andrew McIntosh said existing change rooms are "fairly dated".

"They were constructed in an era where it didn't matter whether you had shower cubicles or not," Mr McIntosh said.

"We wanted to improve the facilities over there, so now we're really happy that we managed to get the grant."

The aim of the recent and upcoming investments are to make Maher Oval a "hub for women's footy".

The Wagga City Wanderers' women's team will also benefit from the grants with plans to refurbish their home ground Gissing Oval's two existing change rooms to be female-friendly.

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Toilets will also be refurbished and two extra female-friendly change rooms will be built.

Wanderers president Ryan Smith said the club had been pushing for seven or eight years for the "unreal" upcoming changes.

"It's a big breakthrough for the sport," Mr Smith said.

"To get that gives the girls a bit of comfort, a bit of security that they've got their own private spaces."

According to the club president, the Gissing Oval amenities are nearing being half a century old.

"It's hard to get grants and funding for this stuff - It's only really been the last couple of years it's started to be acknowledged that women's sports a big thing," Mr Smith said.

Other local beneficiaries of the Female Friendly Sport Facilities and Lighting Upgrades Program include rugby oval Harris Park, which is getting $275,000 for upgraded lights.

And several Riverina grounds such as ones located in Tumut and Temora.

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