Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell says the club is privileged to be able to share its soon-to-be-expanded facilities with the Australian Paralympic Committee.
Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten was on hand at The Hangar on Tuesday to announce a contribution of $4 million, should the Labor Party succeed in the next federal election, to the upcoming development of the training base.
The expansion will benefit both organisations at The Hangar and Campbell said it will only strengthen what is already an extremely important partnership.
“(Our relationship is) very significant, we work really closely with the APC. It’s been great to be part of what has been an amazing journey, over the last five to six years in particular, of growth and momentum for the APC,” Campbell said on Tuesday.
“We both go into this next phase of the expansion fully committed to continuing to build upon our relationship and I think that’s a really great shared mindset that we’ve all got around elite sport and community.
“It’s a great part of this facility; the natural integration that goes by through the Australian Paralympic Committee athletes and for the Essendon athletes.
“They are international athletes, they are world-renowned athletes and, for us, it’s a privilege to be next to them.”
APC Chairman Jock O’Callaghan said developing The Hangar is an important step towards catching up to those competing nations who have greater access to elite facilities.
“We aren’t kidding ourselves, we don’t have the resources that some of the other countries have got, we’re probably smart about how we do it,” O’Callaghan said.
“We also have a geographical challenge of getting athletes from sometimes quite small sports together and we have technology that can help us there.
“Facilities like this there and available on call can make such a powerful difference.”
O’Callaghan said the APC’s relationship with Essendon is a rare and genuine connection.
“It’s unique and some of my peers in other Paralympic committees have spoken of it with great degree of jealousy and awe, because we have such a powerful sporting club get behind us.
“I can’t see that happening in the UK – I can’t see Liverpool or Manchester United getting behind their Paralympic team the same way that Essendon has got behind us – it’s a fantastic initiative.
“I have some jealousy because they (the Bombers), being here, have got para-athletes available all the time. I hope they draw some inspiration from the athletes being here all the time.”
New dormitory accommodation will be utilised by Essendon for a number of beneficiaries including its Next Generation Academy members and community programs, while the expanded club will also house a trio of Hall of Fames.
“A big chunk of (fundraising) is around the dormitory piece and that’s as much (about) the APC being able to house their national camps as it is for us to be able to bring down a lot of kids from remote communities and our Next Generation Academies – we really hope to be able to activate that space for them,” Campbell said.
“(It will be used by) a lot of kids from the Tiwi Islands and West Arnhem in particular – our Next Generation Academy zones. We’d also like to build the capacity of our existing Long Walk programs.
“There’s a club Hall of Fame, which I know the Essendon faithful are very passionate about, there’ll be a Hall of Fame for the Australian Paralympic Committee and the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame will be reinstated down here as well.
“There’s a whole range of different outcomes that we hope to achieve from this facility expansion.”
While Campbell said the Labor Party’s pledge is a “really significant step” for the new development, he admitted plenty of fundraising work still lies ahead.
“It’s a $20 million build all up, the club is committed to raising half of that and we’ve already done that.
“There’s still some state government discussions and coalition discussions that we need to have as well.”
