Kicking goals at Pleasant Street Reserve

The rollout of impressive soccer facility upgrades in Ballarat has taken another monumental step.

The upgraded Pleasant Street Reserve was officially opened on Thursday, the culmination of a collaboration with the City of Ballarat and the State Government.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson and Chief Executive Officer, Evan King were joined by Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison MP and Ballarat Soccer Club president Lucy Brennan to officially open the new facilities.

The project included a complete resurfacing of the two pitches and the club’s training area, upgrades to drainage and irrigation, installation of new fencing, new grass turf and new coaches’ boxes. The project received $667,219 from the City of Ballarat Recreation Services budget as part of its capital program pipeline and $500,000 from the State Government’s 2021-2022 World Game Facilities Fund.

New lighting and changerooms were previously completed in 2021, contributing to a significant upgrade of the entire facility. It follows the recent opening of soccer facilities at the Wendouree West Recreation Reserve and the Victoria Park Community Sports Pavilion earlier this year.

The venue is home to the Ballarat Soccer Club, which boasts more than 300 registered players and 25 teams, and will be available to host other users during the soccer off-season.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the resurfacing project had transformed the reserve to an elite standard.

“The works that have been done here have lifted this facility into something the Ballarat Soccer Club and the broader community can treasure,” he said.

“I really do believe we have some of the best sporting facilities in Australia and our substantial investment in recent years is continuing to reap its rewards.

“We know how important good infrastructure is to promote physical activity among our residents and I’ve already seen how much of a difference this update has made.

“We highly value our relationship with the State Government and are pleased to be able to partner with them on such worthy projects.”

Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison said the upgraded facilities would be of huge benefit to the community.  

“Support for soccer has erupted since the Matildas success at the World Cup.  I’m thrilled we are upgrading facilities locally to encourage more participants to play football and enjoy the world game,” she said.  

“Upgrading these facilities in Pleasant Street mean that our community can enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits that come from leading an active lifestyle and participating in sport and recreation.”  

Ballarat Soccer Club president Lucy Brennan said the upgrades had provided the perfect end to the 2023 Ballarat District Soccer Association season.

“Ballarat Soccer Club is thrilled with the upgrades that have been completed,” she said.

“Whilst there is still a little bit of work to be done, the outcome has been amazing and the time that we had to utilise these facilities at the end of the 2023 season was enjoyed by players and parents. No mud to clean off was a nice touch they hadn’t experienced before.”

The Pleasant Street Reserve project is another demonstration of the City of Ballarat’s commitment to Delivering a Better Ballarat.