The Esperance Soccer Association’s 2024 girl’s league. Photo: Supplied.
The Esperance Soccer Association are on a mission for a new pitch at the greater sports ground.
Association president Louise Pearn said registrations for the 2025 soccer season were predicted to be at their highest, but a lack of quality pitch would likely mean registrations will be capped.
“In 2023 we had 117 player registrations,” she said.
“In 2024 we had 310 registered players.
“Our club has grown significantly in the last 18 months due to a number of specific initiatives but has been struggling to keep the main pitch safe and acceptable for the whole season for the last five years.
“We are totally under resourced for the increasing enthusiasm for soccer.”
Pearn said the association had worked hard to promote Esperance soccer as sport for everyone, especially for females.
Limited to the current pitch and its capacity Pearn said she was worried the momentum for getting more females into the sport would be lost if there was a risk they wouldn’t be able to play.
Last year, the men’s soccer team played on three quarters of a pitch, Pearn said, after part of the main pitch was degraded to a sandy, uneven surface.
She said the men had been understanding about the compromise, but when it came to the kids, “If you don’t let the 15 to 16-year-olds play on a full pitch, you’ll lose them.”
The association had gone through many temporary solutions, using Ports Oval for extra space during the season, and Newtown Oval for summer events.
“This limited access to some teenagers as they were reliant on parents to drive them out there,” Pearn said.
“We would hope to run this competition in our more central location on the greater sports ground in future years.”
Now, the association has turned to the Esperance Shire and to the community to garner support for a new pitch.
Pearn said the current plan would be to replace the old netball courts with a third soccer pitch.
It was a plan that had been initially put forward in 2021.
Pearn said the process had been complex and slow but the need for implementation was becoming urgent.
“Our Association is committed to fundraising and to help with this project in any way we can,” she said.
“We need a timeline so we can get an idea of what it is we are going to fund.”
In the meantime, preparations were well underway for the 2025 soccer season, Pearn said.
Players can register from now until April 1, with the first match kicking off on May 4th.
