The Nepean Football Association are elated following the construction of their first-ever synthetic fields in the area, thanks to Penrith City Council and the NSW Government.
Jamison Park is now the proud home of two synthetic rectangular football fields, which also incorporates a cricket wicket and an AFL field.
The $4 million project has delivered two full size FIFA Quality synthetic fields, featuring 100 lux smart technology LED floodlights for the Nepean FA.
The project was jointly funded by Penrith City Council and the NSW Government, through the Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund and a contribution from the Nepean Football Association.
Jamison Park is the most used sporting facility in the Penrith City Council area, attracting approximately 300,000 visitors a year.
“Synthetic fields provide a raft of benefits to the community, including significantly higher usage tolerance, consistency, and quality of play and most applicable to football the ability to play in the rain or post significant rainfall,” Football NSW Manager – Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure, Daniel Ristic said.
Nepean Football Association Chief Executive Officer Linda Cerone was full of praise to Penrith City Council and the NSW Government.
“Nepean Football Association and the residents of Penrith City Council now have a multi-use facility for everyone,” she said.
“On behalf of the Nepean FA Board and the 12,500 registered players thank you to Minister Ayres, the NSW State Government and Penrith City Council for making this project possible.
“Nepean FA has a venue that can be used play seven days a week regardless of the weather conditions.”
Jamison Park is now well on its way in becoming the Home of Football for the Nepean Football Association.
The upgrade at Jamison Park forms part of the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy, specifically the key pillars of Improving Existing Venue Capacity, Homes of Football and Planning for Growth and Demand.
In the next 10 years, the Penrith LGA is expected to see an additional 61,000 residents. The potential market for new participants (if the current 3.8% state average participation rate is applied) will see an additional 2,300 participants in Penrith.
The introduction of the inaugural synthetic fields in Penrith will capture the predicted growth in the area.
This growth is further highlighted by the number of registered players in the Nepean FA over the last three years. Despite two affected years due to COVID-19, the association has seen a growth of 12% – an additional 1,400 participants in just three years.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is now just 18 months away, where the best female football athletes will be plying their craft in our backyard. The World Cup will no doubt bring further interest in the world game and an increase in female participants across NSW.
Jamison Park will be used for football competition in the summer months, with the site being used by the Nepean FA in the winter season for training, competition games, coaching, referees’ courses, plus more.
