Perth Reds Volleyball Association has launched a new campaign calling on the State Government to support the development of a new 12 court indoor stadium for Perth. The campaign is being launched with the support of Perth Basketball Association (Redbacks) who have collaborated with Perth Reds over the past 4 years to develop a proposal for a new indoor court facility.
Members of the Perth Reds Volleyball Association joined Captain of the Australian National Indoor Volleyball Men’s Team, Luke Perry, Member for South Perth, Geoff Baker MLA and President of the Perth Basketball Association, Anthony Nixon to launch the campaign.
The campaign includes an e-Petition launched by the Redbacks that calls on the State Government to build a 12-court indoor sporting and mixed-use community facility on a portion of land at 3 Baron Hay Court, Kensington. The petition is being sponsored by Minister for Local Government and Youth and Member for Victoria Park, the Hon. Hannah Beazley MLA and is planned to be presented to the Legislative Assembly in August.
Support The Courts: Members of the Perth Reds Volleyball Association joined Captain of the Australian National Indoor Volleyball Men’s Team, Luke Perry, Member for South Perth, Geoff Baker MLA and President of the Perth Basketball Association, Anthony Nixon to launch the campaign.
Perth Reds has worked closely with the Redbacks over the past four years to advocate for a home for our associations and a new indoor court stadium in our catchment area so that each organisation can better cater for surging growth in our associations and across our sports.
Perth Reds partnered with Basketball WA and Perth Basketball Association for a study of the demand and supply of facilities in the inner-east metropolitan catchment area that found an urgent need for a 12 court indoor sport stadium. An independent feasibility study finalised in 2022 confirmed the urgent need for a 12-court indoor sport stadium. The study found that without action now, the local area (covering most of the inner metropolitan region) might never have suitable local indoor sporting facilities for the kids of the future to play in sporting competitions.
The Perth Reds Board encourages all our members, everyone in the WA volleyball community, all indoor sport participants and the wider WA public to get behind and sign this petition. The petition will run until 11 August and is open to all residents of Western Australia to sign, regardless of age.
Comments attributed to Perth Reds Volleyball Association President, Anthony Meo:
“Since the formation of the Reds Volleyball Club in 2018, we have gone from operating out of a single venue with a little over 100 members, to delivering our programs and competitions for over 1,000 members across 19 different facilities in Perth in 2023. This has placed significant pressure on our volleyball operation and administration, creating significant facility challenges.
We have members who coach a team at one venue and then travel up to 20 minutes to a different venue to be involved in their own training session, on a single weeknight. Our junior members and their families are frequently faced by the prospect of commuting on a Friday night for double the length of time that juniors will spend playing on an indoor court, because of a lack of access to local indoor court facilities. Many programs are delivered on grass or in early morning time-slots where facility space permits, to ensure as many participants can play our sport who would not otherwise be able to do so in peak evening time-slots.
Our mobile offices for our staff and volunteer teams include local cafes and restaurants meanwhile the garages and car-boots of our volunteers are transformed into our storage spaces for our equipment. It is unsustainable for associations of our size and structure to continue to operate in this way without a home and that is why we are working together with our community to overcome these challenges.
These challenges are not uncommon for indoor sports and one of the many indoor sporting organisations who have experienced these same challenges is the Perth Basketball Association. We are proud to stand together with the Redbacks to support the courts; a new 12 court indoor multipurpose stadium to become the home of Redbacks and Reds and offer other indoor sporting groups, community groups and the wider community with a multi-purpose facility to bring people together.”
Comments attributed to Captain of the Australian Volleyroos Men, Luke Perry:
“It’s great to be back home in Perth to launch this campaign with the Perth Reds for a new 12 court indoor stadium. This stadium would provide a huge benefit to our sport out here in the west, for all volleyball clubs and in particular Perth Reds.
I have loved watching Reds grow over the years and am proud to be here today to throw my support behind the push for a new indoor stadium for Perth. I have signed the petition and I encourage everyone to get out and do the same. Let’s make this happen!”
Comments attributed to Member for South Perth, Geoff Baker MLA:
“Indoor sports are going gangbusters at the moment and these clubs, the Perth Reds and Perth Redbacks are just two of the clubs that are pressed for playing space. Both of them coordinate across dozens of venues across our community and around Perth.
It’s an incredible effort that the kids and the parents go to, to play the sports they love and we need to find these clubs a home.”
Comments attributed to Perth Basketball Association President, Anthony Nixon:
“This venue will not only provide Perth Basketball Association with its first home in our 60 years, but also provide much needed facility for the many indoor sporting clubs, schools and community groups in the area. The largest and most significant of these sporting clubs, is the Perth Reds Volleyball Association. The recent growth of volleyball in the area combined with the lack of facilities has seen a massive overlap as both of our clubs search for spaces to run our programs.
The overlap between the bookings between the two associations has been extreme and the cooperation has grown accordingly. Both clubs have massive demand and both are struggling to run programs in so many different locations.
I would like to formally thank the Perth Reds Volleyball Association for the way that our two clubs from two different sports have worked so closely together, especially with the common goal of finding adequate facilities to run our programs. Two sports working together, that are different is actually quite rare and we have been so fortunate to have the relationship that we have developed. Sport working together for the betterment of not only ourselves, but the whole community, is by far the best way forward.”