By KATE TAN

A Gippsland community soccer club is hoping to finally get its first female change room after 50 years without, thanks to a new sports infrastructure grant launched by the government.

Churchill United Soccer Club vice-president Stephen Breheny said he would apply for a $500,000 grant to replace the club's current change rooms.

“Our change rooms are 50 years old. They are not suitable for female participation because they are broken down and filthy,” Mr Breheny said.

The change rooms do not offer much privacy as the showers are all open and without partitions.

Mr Breheny is looking forward to building four unisex change rooms, a male and a female referee room, an all-access toilet and a first-aid room.

 "Our members are the main motivation for the improvement. Lots of people in the region will gain benefit from using the new change rooms."

A Sport Australia report said one of the major limitations to local sporting communities is the limited number of female change facilities, failing to meet the demand of increased female participation.

Sports Minister Senator Bridget McKenzie said the program would help sports communities to renew their facilities and create an inclusive environment.

“Female change rooms at sporting grounds should be commonplace, not an exception," she said.

Wollondilly Redbacks Junior AFL club president Tracy Jedrzejewski is also considering applying for the grant to add separate female change rooms.

She said in order to let her girls teams play in junior AFL,  the club's changerooms had to be upgraded in accordance with the AFL's guidelines.

“One of the requirements of having females in AFL junior competition is having change rooms with separate shower cubicles. At the moment we have only one big shower and no cubicles,” Ms Jedrzejewski said.

Ms Jedrzejewski also wants to install solar panels on the roof to reduce the cost of electricity for the club, which is bases southwest of Sydney.

“The less money we need to ask parents to pay for the electricity, the more money we could spend on training equipment for them.”

The sports infrastructure grant was launched in early August and applications will remain open until September 14, 2018.

A total of $29.7 million in sports infrastructure grants will be released to sporting communities.