Just ahead of the season kicking off, the Burnside Heights Football Club’s junior program has been buoyed by grant funding that has helped to source vital equipment.
Established collaboratively between The Dickinson Foundation and The Australian Sports Foundation (ASF), the Active Kid Grants project was developed to assist community sporting clubs that encountered financial difficulties throughout the pandemic.
An ASF survey of 70,000 community sporting clubs found that 60 percent of respondents were worried about player retention, while 42 per cent recorded a drop in their volunteer workforces.
An average of $18,000 revenue was lost per club across the country’s surveyed sporting teams.
Burnside Heights Football Club president Justin Peagram said the club received more than $5000 through the grant program, which helped them to purchase goal post padding, first aid kits, footy bags and more.
“After a non-season in 2020 and a cancelled season in 2021, it really makes a big difference,” Peagram said.
“They’re just small items, but it all adds up and can be costly.
“It’s good to know that people want to give back to community sport. We run on volunteers, so everything helps.”
In total the ASF distributed $550,000 in grants to 144 community clubs across Australia.
