Tara Murray
While the results are still to come for Upfield in FV state league 1 north-west, the club itself is flying.
After successive promotions and going deep into the Australia Cup, Upfield has seen massive growth across the club.
President Wally Hanna said they were thrilled with how the club was growing, but it has brought some problems.
“We have more than 350 members now and there’s still more coming,” he said. “We have 100 on the waiting list.
“We’ve been struggling to find space for them to train. We only have two pitches and one is a senior pitch, which we like to only have for games.
“Our female participation has grown as well. We have more than 50 females in three teams.”
With training being held five nights a week, Hanna said the need to have the masterplan of Gibb Reserve implemented.
He said the buildings were built in 1996 and were not female friendly. He said it was frustrating seeing so many new clubs get funding, but established clubs like them have to wait and are left behind.
On field, Upfield’s senior men’s side has struggled early in the season.
Hanna said they knew that it would likely be a slow start to the season. It has just one win from its first seven matches.
“We have some new players and new coaching staff,” he said.
“Gelling is an issue at the moment. We knew that it would take time.
“Our squad has a lot of professional players who have come from higher clubs in Victoria.
“It’s our second year in state league 1. It’s been a big jump for us. Everyone wants to get into the NPL [National Premier League- Victorian Premier League] system.
“It’s very competitive. The club wants to be an NPL side in the next few years. We need support from [Hume] council as well in developing the facilities to be able to do that.”
Upfield is set to face Geelong on Saturday in round right.
