Family of late Geelong president pledges $10 million to the Cats' planned indoor training facility
The family of late Geelong president Frank Costa has pledged a staggering $10 million to the Cats’ planned indoor training facility.
Costa’s widow Shirley stunned guests at an intimate Cats function last week with the extraordinary commitment – perhaps the biggest single donation to a club in the history of the sport.
Frank Costa died in 2021 at the age of 83 and is remembered as the man who propelled the Geelong Football Club into a golden era, but also made enormous contributions to business, philanthropic causes and his community.
His younger brother Robert has since gathered the family to promise the enormous sum of money to catapult their beloved Cats into the modern era.
Geelong – one of a handful of clubs that do not possess an indoor field facility - are looking to raise more than $20 million for the project.
Cats officials were gobsmacked by the massive Costa contribution.
The club is still identifying location sites for the facility within Kardinia Park, which would support the Cats’ four football programs – AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW.
But Geelong is also fully committed to opening it up for community and commercial events, with the Kardinia Park precinct already home to swimming, netball, cricket, local football and senior citizens groups.
In what is a two-phase plan, builders this month arrived at GMHBA Stadium to complete a near-$7 million refurbishment of the high-performance centre.
The build will deliver a dedicated space for the Cats’ AFLW program – matching the men’s – and will be completed by August in time for the new AFLW season.
The Costa family sit at the head of what is a growing group of financial contributors for the planned indoor facility, with the club forever mindful of being a part of the local community and its place in the region.
