Question still unanswered

November 13 2008

Shepparton News

A lack of specific answers has left North Eastern Soccer League president Frank Trimboli frustrated just a day after asking candidates for Greater Shepparton City Council their plans for sport facilities.

Trimboli said he was disappointed with the generality of some of the 19 candidates' answers published in yesterday's News, saying some had shown a lack of understanding of the problems sport faced in the municipality.

The question asked the candidates what sporting facilities they believed needed to be constructed and what enhancements could be made to existing facilities.

"Some candidates have shown that they don't understand the issues facing the sporting community," Trimboli said.

"They've not really addressed the question and just talked about either what they have done or how important sport is.

"Not actually what they are going to do."

Trimboli said candidates who had talked about new facilities and projects had done so in a way general enough to leave the sporting community with nothing to hold them to account for.

"It's good to say that we can build a facility but where is it going to be built?" Trimboli said.

"Identifying the problems is easy but how are these candidates going to bring about change?

"How will these candidates lobby for government funding?

"Don't just tell us what we need, tell us how we're going to get it."

Specific to soccer, Trimboli said it was encouraging some candidates had made mention of better change rooms for players.

"Soccer is now a sport played by men, women, boys and girls on the same day," Trimboli said.

"But what our facilities don't have is multi-gender changerooms that can support this."