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In December 2010, Dr John Brodie, the Mayor of Holroyd, accepted a cheque for $100,000 from the AFL to redevelop Holroyd Oval, the home ground of Holroyd-Parramatta-Blacktown Australian Football Club.
The Holyrod council matched the AFL’s substantial payment towards the project with money they collect from their ratepayers.
What the ratepayers and citizens of Holyrod, in the western suburbs of Sydney, also contributed to was the manufacture of a sign which was placed on the oval’s perimeter fence.
The sign read: AFL OVAL – This field is to only be used for approved AFL training and games. Use for other sports and activities is not permitted.
That’s right.
Unless you are in possession of an AFL football, the honest ratepayers of Holyrod and their children can’t use the oval. An oval that was redeveloped with their money.
Worryingly, this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald also reported that the same sign has been erected at ovals in Kellyville and Blacktown.
What is going on? Is the start of some form of sporting apartheid in the western suburbs of Sydney?
I really could not care less about the participation numbers of the various codes in Sydney. What I am concerned about is disturbing precedent being set by local councils in Sydney, acting at the behest of the AFL, to exclude people from using a sporting facility because of the sport they play.
These ovals belong to the people. When the ovals are not being used by the AFL tenant, they should be free to be used for any healthy physical activity.
Well, almost every activity. I am pretty sure outdoor horizontal jogging would be better practiced at a more suitable locale.
But, you get my drift.
For goodness sake, being an oval, you would think the most obvious one would be cricket. And if people want to use the facilities it to play rugby, touch rugby, football and even ultimate Frisbee, then so be it.
What about Gaelic football?
The AFL plays a hybrid game with the Gaelic football folk. Are they going to make an exception to their Irish friends or will they placed at the back of the bus with the rest of the codes?
Follow Art Sapphire on Twitter @ArtSapphire.
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