By STEPHANIE CHEN
Glen Eira sporting clubs have rejected more than 400 children from joining their teams because of a lack of sports fields.
Glen Eira Football Club president Stewart Howell said the club had already turned away 50 children since the start of 2016.
“We can only accommodate a certain number of kids depending on how much open space we’re allocated,” Mr Howell said.
Glen Eira has the smallest amount of open space per person of any Victorian municipality, according to the Glen Eira website.
Glen Eira City Councillor Jim Magee said the available sports grounds were already allocated past their maximum potential, with already about 400 children not able to join sporting clubs in the area.
“The junior girls (soccer teams) sometimes have to train on one-eighth of a soccer pitch,” the Glen Eira FC junior girls co-ordinator Pauline O’Kane said.
Mr Howell said the council should alter fields used for less popular sports into spaces suitable for sports that are more popular.
But Mr Magee said it would be unfair to remove playing space from any group of kids regardless of the popularity of the sport.
“The most logical and fair option would be to utilise the large Crown land in Caulfield Racecourse … it is absolutely essential,” Mr Magee said.
Glen Eira FC is campaigning for the use of some of the space within Caulfield Racecourse, which is equivalent in area to 15 MCGs.
Various soccer clubs, including the Brighton Soccer Club, have also pledged their support for the campaign.
The Crown land is mainly used for the commercial benefits of the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC).
Mr Magee described the actions of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust, dominated by MRC members, as “anti-communityC.
The MRC is registered as a not-for-profit organisation, while the space it controls includes a gambling Tabaret, restaurants and investment and development offices.
MRC general manager Jake Norton said the master plan submitted to the Andrews Government regarding future development of the Caulfield Racecourse Crown land explored “a vast array of options [involving] the club retaining its incumbent footprint and venues”.
Mr Norton said the Glen Eira community and council had declined an offer to contribute to their master plan.
But Mr Magee said the members of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust were no longer allowed to communicate with the Glen Eira community.
“There would be no children who would be left out if only four to six sports fields were allowed to be built in the Caulfield racecourse,” Mr Magee said.