Parkville Stadium, previously known as the State Netball Hockey Centre (also referred to as Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville) is a multipurpose sporting facility located in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

. It is the administrative headquarters for both Netball Victoria and

Hockey Victoria Hockey Victoria (HV) is the governing body for the sport of field hockey in Victoria, Australia. It is responsible for the administration of intrastate competitions, state representative teams, officials and the financial position of the sport. It ...

and features two outdoor hockey fields and eleven indoor netball courts, with the main hockey field capable of seating up to 8,000 and the main Netball court seating up to 3,050 spectators. National Basketball League club Melbourne United played home matches at the venue in the past, as well as

Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

team Melbourne Vixens, though both clubs have shifted home matches to larger-capacity arenas. Hockey Club Melbourne of the

Hockey One The Sultana Bran Hockey One is a field hockey competition organised by Hockey Australia, which replaced the Australian Hockey League. The competition serves as Australia's premier domestic hockey league, helping unearth future talent for select ...

league play home games on the main hockey pitch. The facility, opened on 16 March 2001, is located in

Royal Park, Parkville Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks (). It is located north of the Melbourne CBD, in Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville. Many sporting facilities are provided including the North Park Tennis Club, Royal ...

next to the

Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. The zoo contains more than 320 animal species from Austra ...

. The facility is run by the State Sport Centres Trust, which operates four other sporting facilities in Melbourne, namely the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC), the MSAC Institute of Training (MIT) and Lakeside Stadium.

History

The development of the facility dates back to 1996 when the Royal Park Master Plan was prepared by the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

. Under the plan the existing State Netball Centre would be demolished and integrated with the State Hockey Centre. The demolishing of the State Netball Centre along with a reduction in the number of outdoor courts enabled the reinstatement of parkland and playing fields. The plan also outlined improving amenities for all park users in conjunction with the development of the centre, including improved roads, public transport and car parking. In May 1998 $24.5 million funding was approved by the Victorian Government, via a project known as the Community Sports Fund. In February 1999 a revised budget of $27 million was accepted after a tender process found that the previous budget was too small, even after reducing the scope of the project. The approval for the centre was fast-tracked so as to allow the venue to be assessed by the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

Evaluations Panel in mid-1999. The redevelopment of the facilities began in March 1999 and was planned to be completed by April 2000. Construction was completed in November 2000, and the facility was officially opened on 16 March 2001. The redevelopment of the park was objected to by several interest groups. In May 1999 legal action commenced against the redevelopment of Royal Park, on the grounds that the development was inconsistent with the purpose of

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

reservations. Another issue was raised after concerns over the effects of the exterior lights on the surround areas, including the nearby

. In March 2019 the centre began undergoing a $64.6 million redevelopment announced earlier by the Victorian Government. The redevelopment replaced the outdoor netball courts with six indoor courts, created an indoor hockey facility, a high-performance gymnasium and the ''Sports House 2'' building, which provides administrative offices for Netball Victoria and Hockey Victoria. The redevelopment concluded in mid-2021.

Facilities

The centre has eleven indoor netball courts including two in the main stadium, known as Parkville Arena. The arena has permanent seating on three sides of the courts and retractable seating can be used (covering the second court) to increase the capacity to 3,050. The secondary hall can be configured for 250 spectators. When the main stadium is configured for basketball it has a capacity of 3,500. The netball courts can be transformed to cater for basketball, volleyball, martial arts, concerts, indoor soccer and other indoor sports. The centre has two hockey pitches with a grandstand situated between them, providing seating for 1,000 spectators undercover on the main pitch and seating for 250 spectators on the second pitch. The main pitch is surrounded by grassed seating areas which can accommodate temporary seating for up to 8,000 spectators, as has been utilised for past events such as the

. The hockey pitches can be transformed to cater for lacrosse, gridiron, soccer, touch football and other outdoor sports.

Netball

This arena has been used for netball since its opening. It has hosted Victorian Netball League,

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008 it has served as a second level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Netb ...

, Commonwealth Bank Trophy, ANZ Championship and Victoria Men's and Mixed Netball League (M-League) matches. Past tenants have included Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Vixens. The Vixens used the arena throughout 2008 to 2011 and also used it for home finals in 2013 and 2019, on both occasions because their usual venues were unavailable. The venue is the current training location for the Vixens. Victorian Fury play the majority of their home ANL at SNHC.

Basketball

In past National Basketball League seasons, the facility was occasionally used by Melbourne United (formerly the Melbourne Tigers) and was nicknamed 'The Cage'. The club made the centre their home in 2002 due to financial trouble and the high costs of hiring their previous home, Vodafone Arena (Now John Cain Arena). Over time, the club gradually moved all of their matches to the larger capacity

Melbourne Arena John Cain Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located within Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the second-largest venue and show court for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam professional tennis ...

located near the city. The Tigers (now United) utilise the facility for home matches if John Cain Arena is unavailable. The facility co-hosted the FIBA Oceania Championship in 2003 and 2011. Both times, the Australian national basketball team won the gold medal.

Commonwealth Games

For the

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held i ...

the facility was used for all the hockey games and netball preliminary matches.

Water conservation

As part of an initiative in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games in 2004 the centre received a grant from the Smart Water Trust to recycle water from the hockey pitches and the roof structure. The recycled water substitutes for drinking water to water the hockey pitches and is expected to reduce water usage by 78%.

Notes

References

External links

Official Site

Google Maps
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melbourne Sports Centres - Parkville Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues Basketball venues in Australia Indoor arenas in Australia Boxing venues in Australia Field hockey venues in Australia Netball venues in Victoria (state) Sports venues in Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games venues Sports venues completed in 2001 Melbourne United Melbourne Boomers Melbourne Vixens Victorian Fury Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Sport in the City of Melbourne (LGA)