Situated on Bonaira Street and located close to Kendall’s Beach, Bonaira Oval is the home of the Kiama Power.
At the end of 1999, the Kiama Hockey Club vacated Bonaira Reserve to play at Albion Park, allowing our juniors to begin playing games at the venue from 2000.
It was always going to be a tight fit, but the dimensions of the ground just fit within the minimum requirements for an AFL field.
After rapid growth and success in the junior and senior clubs, we were able to obtain a $666,000 grant from the NSW Government, topped up by $100,000 raised by the junior club and a contribution from the AFL itself, to assist with the construction of a new clubhouse.
The previous outdated facility was demolished to make way for the construction of a two-storey building equipped with new home and away dressing rooms for both male and female teams, a canteen, and umpires room and storage room.
The club was able to source additional funding to complete an upstairs fit-out of a function room bar and a spacious viewing deck overlooking the AFL field, with the clubhouse opening in April 2021.
“This has been over four years in the making,” said Juniors President Dirk Ovenden in 2021.
“We wanted our growing women’s group, our men and our kids to enjoy a premier sporting facility on the South Coast.
“It has taken a lot of hard work to get it to this stage.
“Without the grant from Gareth Ward MP, we’d still be using our old changerooms.”
Mr Ovenden also thanked Mayor Mark Honey and Council, Kiama Sports Association and the builders, local firm Bluestone Building Group.
“The project has helped bring the Junior and Senior clubs together, to work collaboratively as one club.”
In officially opening the clubhouse, the Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, said, “It is great to see the facilities here so you can run great AFL games.
“I love getting grants for sporting clubs, because it makes all the difference. It means the volunteers can focus on sporting aspects, rather than selling raffle tickets to raise money.
“It is a real pleasure to see local sporting clubs reach their potential by getting local sporting clubs facilities like this. It will be something to call your own for a very long time to come.”
