Governments are desperate to fund elite sport - and it's leaving the grassroots to wither

• Urging the construction of an equivalent 78 extra rectangular sport fields to meet demand by 2026, and 120 rectangular fields by 2026, using school grounds, upgrading lighting around existing fields, and installing more multi-purpose synthetic fields to address the shortfall, although this would only increase playing space by 22 per cent by 2026.
• Converting grass fields to multi-purpose synthetic surfaces so they can be used by a range of sporting codes; and transforming park space from one sport to other use, as suggested by the idea that Warringah Golf Course could be turned into playing fields.
• By 2021, Football NSW was heavily promoting the use of synthetic fields with 35 built since 2016 to extend playing time to over 60 hours per field compared to 20-25 hours for a natural turf field which is subject to wear and tear and a higher maintenance and water use cost.

The potential for football codes to share fields is illustrated by Brisbane's Mitchelton Soccer Club (northern Brisbane) playing on an artificial field (costing $1.5 million) since 2019 with both FIFA and rugby union certification.

But the problems confronting grassroots sport in terms of a shortage of playing fields and sports facilities cannot go away without greater assistance from state and/or federal governments in terms of the funding mix between elite and grassroots sport.

With total Australian government spending on sport and recreation comparing well with most OECD countries at 1.16 per cent as of 2019, it would be unrealistic to expect governments to simply increase spending at a time of a major cost of living crisis as the country increasingly struggles to meet old and new policy needs.

The September 2021 publication of Social infrastructure in Melbourne's growth areas already shows that the Victorian Government was spending an average $50,000, and local governments $38,000, on infrastructure to support each new home in Melbourne's growth areas, whereas developer contributions averaged around $23,000 for each home, a reality that helps explain the large gap in funding which results in a lack of sporting infrastructure for new residents.

The 2021 National State of the Assets Report also indicated the fiscal difficulties faced by Australia's local governments with their park and recreation assets needing urgent repair having a replacement cost of $1.3 billion, those with poor function $1.1 billion and those with poor capacity $1.4 billion, yet these amounts are dwarfed by the $51 billion needed to address all other poor quality infrastructure with up to $138 billion needed to replace infrastructure in a fair condition.

The 2021 National State of the Assets Report also indicated the fiscal difficulties faced by Australia's local governments with their park and recreation assets needing urgent repair having a replacement cost of $1.3 billion, those with poor function $1.1 billion and those with poor capacity $1.4 billion. Yet these amounts are dwarfed by the $51 billion needed to address all other poor quality infrastructure with up to $138 billion needed to replace infrastructure in a fair condition.

In such a climate, a 2022 ABC report noted how less sporting infrastructure leads to lower participation rates and poorer health outcomes in new suburbs, while the closure of existing infrastructure – such as swimming pools in Western Sydney because of high rebuilding costs – can also lead to overcrowding and strain on remaining facilities.

And with key players supporting the NSW Productivity Commission's recent push for greater building heights and denser development even in Sydney's most affluent suburbs, and despite opponents noting that the inner ring of Sydney is already much denser than further west, participation opportunities can only worsen as the population increases in line with the existing number of fields.

We can only hope that state and federal governments adopt policies that can more adequately balance elite and grassroots sport in terms of funding, perhaps boosted by a national lottery that funds sport as the United Kingdom does. (Although it is worth noting that the latter has one of the lowest proportions of total government spending on sport and recreation, which is at 0.42 per cent).

As it stands, however, state governments continue to target big events and fund large stadiums, with the Queensland government to rebuild the GABBA for the 2032 Olympic Games (50,000 capacity) at a present cost of $2.7 billion, with the Victorian government likely to fund much of the cost of rebuilding the MCG's southern stand, having provided $500 million assistance to the AFL in 2018 (including $225 million to the Docklands stadium and precinct).

While the 2022-23 Victorian Budget noted that it had spent $1.2 billion on community sport and recreation infrastructure since 2014, the upgrades to the Melbourne Park precinct alone from 2010 to end of 2021 cost $970 million to improve related stadiums and facilities in a bid to secure the Australian Open tennis for years to come.