Punt Road Oval redevelopment & Indigenous institute [merged]

[one-eyed]

Indigenous Institute opens
richmondfc.com.au
By Tony Greenberg
Fri 01 Apr, 2011

History was made at the ME Bank Centre today (April 1) when the Korin Gamadji Institute (KGI) opened its doors for the first time, hosting 33 Indigenous participants in a Level 1 coaching course.

The KGI will focus on Indigenous leadership development, training and employment, and some key appointments, set to be made in the coming weeks, will give the Institute further momentum.

Following a traditional “Welcome to Country” ceremony from respected Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Joy Murphy, a day-long, Level 1 Indigenous coaching course kicked off in the Institute centre.

The course was run by the Indigenous Program Manager at AFL Victoria, Leon Egan, who admitted to being “blown away by the facilities” on offer at the ME Bank Centre’s Korin Gamadji Institute.

“Very honestly, there was a lot of skepticism from the Aboriginal community on what it was going to look like, how user-friendly it would be, and so forth.  But the significant thing for me is that today is the first day we’ve been able to access it, and we’re first cab off the rank,” Egan said.

“I’m excited about the fact that we’ve been given this opportunity to host a Level 1 coaching course - Indigenous specific - for our community . . . that’s fantastic.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to go and visit a lot of clubs and have a look at their facilities and, from a Melbourne-based club’s perspective, this is the best that I’ve seen.”

The Institute’s level one coaching course attracted guest speakers such as triple Hawthorn premiership player, former Hawks’ coach, and now the AFL’s Director of Coaching, Peter Schwab; three-time Brisbane Lions premiership player, and now coach of suburban club, Avondale Heights, Chris Johnston; AFL Community Engagement Manager, Jason Mifsud; Richmond’s Head of Development, Tim Livingstone; and Tiger assistant coach Danny Daly.

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/110619/default.aspx

[one-eyed]

I found this article from an architectural website discussing the Punt Rd redevelopment with some pics of the facility included ....

See full article and pics here: http://architprojects.blogspot.com/2011/09/punt-road-oval-redevelopment.html

"This facility is the next instalment in the club’s rich identity. It is a positive image, literally building a winner’s circle, with the elevations drawing inspiration from post-game traditions. We pictured the team standing in a circle with arms intertwined as a TV cameraman spins in the centre, capturing them as they sing: “Oh, we’re from Tigerland, a fighting fury, we’re from Tigerland!”

The design development was made more interesting by the contributions of Richmond’s passionate fan base. The importance of legibility of the club identity was spelt out loud and clear, when a preliminary design was published in the Herald Sun, prompting an online furore from the Tiger faithful – the playing strip motif was going the wrong way on one side of the building! The people had spoken, and were acknowledged through the refinement of the design."

[Phil Mrakov]

Although I love the inside, the outside is just ok... Could have been a lot better looking.

Looks a bit like a black shed and the red makes it look like Essendon is also training at the facility.

[Oiafi]

I pass it every day and it looks great. It's very noticeable.

Agree about the Essendon comment though, hate the red. I just remind myself that it's also the indigenous institute and reds on the indigenous flag. Makes it bearable ... just.

[Judge Roughneck]

I pass it every day and it looks great. It's very noticeable.

Agree about the Essendon comment though, hate the red. I just remind myself that it's also the indigenous institute and reds on the indigenous flag. Makes it bearable ... just.

Time to change the aboriginal flag.

[WilliamPowell]

Agree about the Essendon comment though, hate the red. I just remind myself that it's also the indigenous institute and reds on the indigenous flag. Makes it bearable ... just.

that is the only reason the Red is there - to represent the indigenous flag at a building that houses the Indigenous Training Institute

[mightytiges]

Agree about the Essendon comment though, hate the red. I just remind myself that it's also the indigenous institute and reds on the indigenous flag. Makes it bearable ... just.

that is the only reason the Red is there - to represent the indigenous flag at a building that houses the Indigenous Training Institute

And red is our 'third' colour due to the Tiger's tongue on our logo  .

[WilliamPowell]

Agree about the Essendon comment though, hate the red. I just remind myself that it's also the indigenous institute and reds on the indigenous flag. Makes it bearable ... just.

that is the only reason the Red is there - to represent the indigenous flag at a building that houses the Indigenous Training Institute

And red is our 'third' colour due to the Tiger's tongue on our logo  .

True

But being the building that houses the Indigenous Institute - it was very important that red was included in the colour scheme...

[one-eyed]

Casting a shadow at tree of life
Martin Flanagan
The Age
April 21, 2012

THIRTEEN young Koori women sit with Belinda Duarte at the scarred tree on top of the hill overlooking the MCG.
 
Duarte is the inaugural director of the Korin Gamadji Institute which is based in Richmond's newly expanded facilities at Punt Road. The MCG is on Wurundjeri land and ''Korin Gamadji'' are Wurundjeri words meaning grow and emerge. The 13 young women are among 100 youths attending two programs being run that day.
 
At the same time as Duarte is gently leading the young women in a discussion to do with wellbeing, Richmond indigenous player Shane Edwards and teammate Ben Griffiths are taking another group for a nutrition course.

In the Richmond gym, assisted by volunteers from Athletics Australia, Richmond boxing coach John Vickery - father of Tyrone and a man with a crushing handshake of the Ted Whitten variety - is putting another group through a boxing session.
 
Belinda Duarte's father was a Pole who emigrated to Australia in his youth and fought with the Australian army in Vietnam. Her mother was a Wotjobaluk woman from north-west Victoria.
 
A quiet, modest woman, she says she was brought up to be ''very aware'' of her cultural heritage. A great uncle, Robert Kinnear, won the Stawell Gift in 1883 and Duarte started Little Athletics when she was seven. She tells the young women sitting around the tree that sport was her anchor, her ''safe place'', growing up. ''It kept the highs and lows of the external world at bay.''
 
She pursued athletics for the next 20 years, trialling as a heptathlete for the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. During this time, in addition to going on ''a journey around my own cultural identity'', she acquired an education degree from Ballarat University. An employment history including both AFL Sportsready and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission led her to join the KGI last year. The question, she says, is, ''How do we best utilise this space for the next generation?''
 
Richmond media manager Simon Matthews says: ''We obviously aren't experts in this area, but we want to use the Richmond/AFL brand, our people and these facilities to create a unique and innovative offering for the young people that come through the KGI.'' To this end, Richmond sponsors KGI through operational support and Belinda Duarte sits as a member of the Tigers' executive. The KGI's main room is named after Maurice Rioli, the Tigers' indigenous champion and Norm Smith medallist from the 1980s.
 
''There is no other facility like this in Victoria,'' says Duarte. And it's not just anywhere, the KGI is at an AFL club which neighbours the MCG. ''It engages people just by being here,'' says Duarte.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/casting-a-shadow-at-tree-of-life-20120420-1xcgk.html#ixzz1sccxr4vq

[one-eyed]

Richmond opts to rip up Punt Rd Oval turf mid-season

    Michael Warner
    From: Herald Sun
    May 30, 2012


RESURGENT Richmond will drive its push for the finals from Craigieburn and Victoria Park.

The Tigers will embark on a $1.9 million redevelopment of their Punt Rd Oval, leaving players seeking a new training venue from early next month.

Club chiefs last night defended the disruption to a season shaping as Richmond's best since the club last played finals in 2001.

"The timing is never ideal but now is the right time to move," Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale told the Herald Sun.

"There will be some short-term inconvenience, but it is simply something that needed to be done for the long-term benefit of the club."

The Tigers are reconfiguring the Punt Rd ground into an Etihad Stadium-sized oval without the impediment of cricket wickets.

The shabby surface slopes almost 2m down to the Brunton Ave end and is prone to flooding.

"Work will commence on the oval next month and we expect that will mean our players can be back training on the ground by November to give them full access for the 2013 pre-season," Gale said.

"It is imperative the surface is available for pre-season which is when it is used most by players - that is why it makes sense to push ahead with these works now."

The Tigers had shared the Punt Rd ground with the Richmond Cricket Club for more than a century, but recently convinced the cricketers to shift.

Richmond's pre-season campaigns have been constantly unsettled by the unavailability of the Punt Rd ground and the hardness of the centre square.

Former coach Terry Wallace blamed a spate of injuries during his time at the Tigers on having to train on substandard surfaces, while AFL boss Andrew Demetriou once described the Punt Rd ground as "crap".

Gale said last night: "The first phase of the Fighting Tiger Fund provided us with the financial support to reduce our debt by $1 million and - combined with AFL support - provide the necessary funding for us to reconfigure and resurface Punt Road Oval," he said.

The club has raised $3.2 million since the Fighting Tiger Fund was launched and will hold another major function on Saturday night in its bid to reach $6 million.

Richmond has an existing partnership with the Hume City Council to train several times a year at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn, 25km from Punt Rd.

Victoria Park in nearby Abbotsford is the former home of Collingwood.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmond-opts-to-rip-up-punt-rd-oval-turf-mid-season/story-e6frf9jf-1226373032416

[1965]

Does anybody know how the Cricket club is going?

 

[HKTiger]

Does anybody know how the Cricket club is going?

 

Won the VCA Premiership.

[one-eyed]

Benny Gale was on SEN this morning talking about the Punt Rd Oval resurfacing...


Tigers hit the road
By Paul Daffey
Wed 30 May, 2012

RICHMOND chief executive Brendon Gale says it's necessary to move the club's training venue mid-season if the ground development at Punt Road is to be ready by pre-season training.

Richmond will train at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn and Victoria Park from early June because of the $1.9 million redevelopment at Punt Road.

Gale said the club owes its players the opportunity to provide the best oval on which to train.

The redevelopment is due to be completed in early November, just after the players have returned for pre-season training.

"It might surprise people in footy but the guys don't spend a hell of a lot of time on the track at this time of year," Gale told SEN's Morning Glory program.

"They get smashed during the matches. It's then about recovery - a bit of spit and polish.

"We believe the oval redevelopment is such an important part of our future.
"It's the players' most important piece of equipment.

"We owe it to them to get the best possible oval to prepare on."

At the moment the ground slopes 1.6 metres towards the Brunton Avenue goals and it has an eight-metre cricket wicket area.

The Richmond Cricket Club has now moved to new facilities in Waverley.

Gale said the poor soil profile at Punt Road means it fails to drain at an acceptable level.

"Punt Road in its present state has run its race," he said.

The redevelopment oval will be the same dimensions as Etihad Stadium. "To the centimetre," Gale said.

The club would like the ground to be the same dimension as the MCG, the Tigers' home ground, but the lack of space at Punt Road prevents such a move.

"We're limited with the land. By doing it this way we're getting every millimetre out of the space available," Gale said.

"By having it the same size as Etihad, it will be so superior to what we have now."

Gale told the Herald Sun the redevelopment had been made possible by funds raised by the Fighting Tiger Fund.

"The first phase of the Fighting Tiger Fund provided us with the financial support to reduce our debt by $1 million and - combined with AFL support - provide the necessary funding for us to reconfigure and resurface Punt Road Oval."

The club has raised $3.2 million since the Fighting Tiger Fund was launched and will hold another major function on Saturday night in its bid to reach $6 million.

Richmond has an agreement with the Hume City Council to train several times a year at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn, which is 25km from Punt Road.

Victoria Park in nearby Abbotsford is the former home of Collingwood.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/137232/default.aspx

[Phil Mrakov]

If we start losing from it thats when we will be peeed!

[one-eyed]

Here's Benny Gale on SEN this morning ...

http://bigpondvideo.com/RichmondTV/454573/Brendon%20Gale%20on%20SEN/