Central Coast Regional Sports and Recreation Complex – All you need to know for Round 1!!
Written by David Redden
Round 1 documents:
Bar TV Links:
Gosford Tigers vs. Terrigal Avoca Panthers 11:00am
Warners Bay Bulldogs vs. Wyong Lakes Magpies 1:30pm
Killarney Vale Bombers vs. Cardiff Hawks 4:00pm
Maitland Saints vs. Newcastle City Blues 6:30pm
The magnificent new Central Coast Regional Sports and Recreation Complex in Tuggerah opens this weekend. The AFLHCC spoke to Scott Cox, Director Environment and Planning, Central Coast Council about the new multi-purpose complex.
- Council must be very proud of its magnificent new facility. What are the plans for the facility in 2019 please? We are extremely proud to deliver the Central Coast Regional Sporting and Recreation Complex (The Complex) for our region and are excited to see what events will be brought to our region because of it.
The 2019 NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout is already confirmed as the Complex’s first major state-wide event and is anticipated to inject $6million into our local economy, with direct benefits to the region’s small businesses and employment.
Securing this major event demonstrates how this facility is already delivering social, health, and economic benefits for the local and wider community and will continue to do so for future generations to come.
- The complex is ideal for so many sports. What sports can and will be accommodated there? The Complex was specifically designed to accommodate regionally significant, mass production sporting and recreational events (including markets, expos and festivals) and boasts nine full size playing fields and an amenities building (with accessible toilets, change rooms and storerooms) and can accommodate any sport that is played on fields.
An official opening ceremony for the Central Coast Regional Sporting and Recreation Complex will be held on Friday 29 March, kicking off three days of celebratory sporting events from a with a range of sports codes such as AFL, Oztag, rugby league, rugby union, wheelchair sports, football (soccer) and T-ball as well as the strongest man and woman competitions, providing a perfect opportunity to test out the new facility and grounds and entertain the local community.
The Complex was designed to be built in two stages and Council is continuing to seek funding for the second stage to develop a multi-purpose indoor complex and grandstand at the site – which will have the capacity to cater for even more sport and recreational events.
- Has the complex building process been relatively smooth process? The Complex is the biggest sporting facility ever built on the Central Coast and for such a huge project, the construction of the facility went quite smoothly. The $23.7 million project is the biggest infrastructure project for Open Space and Recreation in decades and was made possible with a $10 million grant from the Australian Government’s National Stronger Regions Fund and $13.71 million investment from Council.
- What kind of grass are the playing fields? Will Rye Grass be planted for winter competitions? The fields at the Complex are a couch grass. In winter, where required, Council will sow over with Rye.
- What are the field dimensions for Australian Rules Football? The main AFL field is 159m x 127m and can accommodate a national game.
- When do the cricket blocks go in? The cricket blocks will go in later this year, between July and August and will all be turf.
- How many change rooms are there in total at the complex? Currently there are four permanent change rooms at the Complex with the capacity to bring in temporary ones for larger events.
- The complex is conveniently located near Tuggerah Station and other local facilities/amenities. Was this location decided upon because of availability and convenience? The Complex sits on 18.28 hectares of land at Lake Road Tuggerah and is ideally located close to the M1 freeway and alongside train and bus transport, as well as being in close proximity to main town centres and a major shopping complex making it a highly connected destination and perfect for the purpose of this facility.
- Round 1 of the AFLHCC on March 30 will be a huge day, in combination with other sports. Council must be very excited at the thought of this day and having so many players, officials and supporters using this superb facility? Delivery of this project aligns with the vision of the Central Coast Regional Strategy (2006-2031) to create a prosperous, sustainable, liveable and well-coordinated future for the Central Coast by Supporting and strengthening tourism opportunities; encouraging and investigating opportunities to diversify the region’s economy; strengthening the Central Coast’s unique identity; and capitalizing on the region’s position between Sydney and Newcastle.
Sport brings people together and by hosting the season launch of the AFL Hunter Central Coast, with round one of their competition, this definitely aligns with Council’s vision for the Complex and showcases its potential
We want the facility to be filled with players and supporters coming together to create a great atmosphere – that’s great for the sport and for our community.
The AFLHCC Community Football Manager, Sam Zikman, was similarly enthused when asked about the new facility, which will host four Black Diamond Cup and six Womens Round 1 fixtures this Saturday.
Zikman said “Council has worked on this complex for a number of years, and they have four multi-purpose fields plus a purpose-built AFL ground which will be shared with cricket when the turf pitches are laid later on this year. We are really happy as a League to be able to take some content to the CCRSC, over the coming years the complex will be a wonderful asset for our League to utilize it for official fixtures like Round 1 this Saturday, practice games and representative games.”
Zikman advised that “this Saturday, the Black Diamond Cup games will be played on the AFL ground, known as Field 9, whilst the Womens fixtures will be played on the multi-purpose ground known as Field 1-2.”
Zikman was asked about the use of the CCRSC for representative football carnivals in future. He stated that “certainly, we will ask for feedback from all of our clubs after this weekend as to the standard of the facility, with an eye toward the possibility of junior representative football, our own Womens representative Tri-Series (contested between Newcastle, Hunter and Central Coast) and senior Mens rep footy. The CCRSC is definitely being looked at as a major base for representative Australian Rules in the future.”
We thank Scott & Sam for their time and look forward to many years of footy at this magnificent new complex, a complex almost unmatched in Country NSW.
