After years of complaints about a lack of indoor sporting facilities in Wollongong, Council is about to conduct a city-wide review and build a strategy with the aim of "future-proofing" the city's sporting needs for decades to come.

It's no secret that, as Wollongong's population has grown over the past 20 years, the city's sporting facilities haven't kept pace.

The Illawarra Flame has seen correspondence from Council which confirms plans to develop "an Aquatic and Indoor Sports Strategy to ascertain future needs for indoor sports and aquatic services with a clear implementation plan".

The lack of sufficient sporting facilities has become a growing headache for Council.

Three months ago, regular swimmers at North Wollongong's Continental Pool called for an extension of opening hours during the winter months, well beyond the 2pm closing time that remains in place.

Beaton Park arm-wrestle continues

For 12 months now, there's been an arm-wrestle at Beaton Park where Council's plan to relocate what they consider minor sports – badminton, table tennis, pickleball and fitness classes – out of Ted Tobin Hall to give the Hawks and basketball exclusive access were met with outrage by the hundreds who would be displaced.

Facing that community backlash, Council quickly retreated and promised no sport or activity using Ted Tobin Hall would be disadvantaged should the popular facility be given to basketball.

In search of a solution, Council has engaged a Sydney-based consultancy to try to find a way to break the impasse. The Illawarra Flame understands to date, those conducting the review have only held discussions with basketball about future needs at Beaton Park, which is only adding to the frustration of the other users of Beaton Park.

News of a city-wide exploration of our future indoor sporting needs has been welcomed by the management of the Illawarra Sports Stadium (ISS) at Berkeley. 

The stadium, which includes four multipurpose basketball/netball courts, is a not-for-profit, self-funded organisation, established in the early 1990s. They have a long-term lease arrangement with Council.

Council praised for looking ahead

The stadium manager, Tim Fares, praised Council for getting on the front foot with its plans to set out a long-term indoor sports strategy for the city.

"The Council is doing a great job trying to future proof for our needs," Tim said. "We've had good conversations with the Lord Mayor and Mark Berriman [who manages Council's Sport and Recreation] and they are very supportive."

Illawarra Sports Stadium has development application approval for a bold $30 million dollar expansion of its facilities, which would include three additional air-conditioned courts, a gymnasium, administration centre, seating for 2,100 spectators and additional community facilities.

Decades with no new courts

In its submission for government funding, ISS has said no new internal courts have been built for the Illawarra community's use for more than 30 years. "The lack of courts has resulted in the ISS not being adequately able to cater for the communities' needs since 2015. The major users have demonstrated that more than 1,200 residents per week from the Illawarra are not able gain access to the stadium due to lack of court space."

Tim Fares believes the city is now at a critical point in terms of providing adequate facilities to cater for the growth of a number of indoor sports. He says sports are now "screaming out" for more courts.

"Indoor sports have taken off in the past 10 years," Tim said. "The world has got smaller due to social media and the internet, and more and more people are looking at playing their sport indoors out of the weather."

At present, ISS provides a venue for netball, basketball, table tennis, futsal, indoor bowls, floorball, roller skating and hopes to offer space for pickleball (one of the world's fastest growing sports) when the expansion plans are realised.

Tim said the stadium also caters for community, which remains one of the main goals of the organisation. Typically, ISS provides a venue for community, church and dance groups, trade fairs, factory clearances, expos, antique shows, book fairs, animal shows and playgroups. During The Illawarra Flame's visit, hundreds of schoolchildren were rehearsing hard for the schools' dance spectacular.

A facility 'for everyone and everything'

"Our aim is to create a facility that helps the community find a home. We want to be a venue for everyone and everything," Tim said. All that's needed is $30 million to get the project underway.

"The land is ready to go, the plans are approved, we just need to get funding."

Tim said every year that goes by with no new sporting facilities built just adds to the community's frustration. He said sporting teams and individuals were being turned away in the thousands each year due to a lack of space. He fears the situation is about to get worse.

"We need to cater for West Dapto, which is still growing and about to explode," Tim said.

Council is yet to release the finer detail of its proposed Aquatic and Indoor Sports Strategy and hasn't responded to The Illawarra Flame's requests for more information.