La Trobe University is pleased to welcome the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) to its world-class Sports Park as a 20-year partner.
The NFNL will relocate its home base to the new La Trobe Sport Stadium - to be completed in early 2020 - which will provide the league with access to six indoor netball courts for competitions and training. The NFNL will also utilise the Tony Sheehan Oval as a host venue for football finals and a training facility for representative teams.
The state-of-the-art Sport Stadium is part of La Trobe's $150 million Sports Park development, which is a key component of the University's ambitious $5 billion plan to transform its Melbourne Campus in Bundoora into a University City of the Future.
The partnership will also enable La Trobe and the NFNL to work together to increase opportunities for community sport participation in Melbourne's North and build real-world industry experiences for students.
Dean and Head of La Trobe University's School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, and Director of La Trobe Sport, Professor Russell Hoye, said the University is thrilled to be the new home for the NFNL.
"La Trobe is proud to support the Northern Football Netball League in its aspirations to improve its operations and create a more inclusive sporting community for Melbourne's North," Professor Hoye said.
"This partnership also provides great benefits for La Trobe students to improve their employability skills and gain valuable work experience in the growing sport industry.
"The NFNL is the first tenant to officially join the La Trobe Sports Park and become part of our sporting community that already includes 26 La Trobe University sport clubs and our major sport partners, including Carlton Football Club, Melbourne City Football Club and the Melbourne Rebels."
In addition to the dedicated world class office space in the La Trobe Sport Stadium, the NFNL will have use of boardrooms, meeting rooms and function facilities to support its business operations, as well as shared staff amenities.
NFNL chief executive Peter McDougall said the partnership marked an exciting new era between the NFNL and La Trobe University.
"The NFNL is delighted to be aligned to La Trobe University," Mr McDougall said.
"The relocation of the NFNL headquarters to the newly developed La Trobe University Sports Park secures the long-term future of the NFNL administration base, as well as securing access to the new football oval and netball stadium.
"La Trobe University will become the home of NFNL football and netball, and to be aligned with such a fantastic partner will assist the NFNL to continue to grow both codes throughout the northern metropolitan region of Melbourne.
"I look forward to working with La Trobe University on many collaborative initiatives which will provide great support and benefits to NFNL clubs and the wider community."
The NFNL's relocation to the La Trobe Sports Park is expected to take place in January 2020. An official date will be confirmed once works on the Sport Stadium have been completed.
Partnership background
- The NFNL will operate for at least 20 years from world-class office space in the La Trobe Sports Stadium, to be completed in early 2020
- La Trobe University will become the naming rights partner of the NFNL for at least the duration of the agreement
- 20 La Trobe University students in sport management and sport media will have access to exclusive work integrated learning opportunities across all areas of the league each year
- The NFNL and La Trobe will collaborate on research projects focused on community sport participation, injury prevention and wellbeing
- La Trobe University and the NFNL will collaborate on several future programs to enhance the experience of participants in football and netball across Melbourne's North
La Trobe Sports Park background
- The La Trobe Sports Park is now in phase two of development and set for completion in early 2020
- Phase two includes:
- a teaching and research building (designed with 5-star Green Star rating), including world-class sport science and analytics research laboratories
- an indoor stadium, complete with six, multi-purpose highball courts
- office space for commercial tenants
- Phase one was completed in December 2018 and includes the following new facilities to complement La Trobe's existing lower playing field and baseball diamond:
- a FIFA-1 accredited synthetic football (soccer) pitch
- an AFL oval larger than Melbourne's Marvel Stadium
- a Pavilion with club rooms, change rooms and a multi-purpose function room with capacity to seat 132 people
- phase one facilities are open for bookings
PHOTO (left to right): Dean and Head of La Trobe University's School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, and Director of La Trobe Sport, Professor Russell Hoye, with Northern Football Netball League Chief Executive Peter McDougall at the 2019 NFNL Division 1 Grand Final luncheon, held at Preston City Oval.
