NETBALL clubs at Donald and St Arnaud will benefit from state government grants worth $100,000.
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The grants, part of the Country Football and Netball program, will help Donald build new female change rooms within its community precinct.
It also allows resurfacing of the St Arnaud courts.
New change rooms at Donald will benefit more than just the netball club.
The club’s president Megan Anderson said players, umpires and people using the stadium during the summer would benefit from the upgrade.
“This will be a much-needed upgrade,” she said.
“The change rooms we do have are very run-down and old.”
Anderson said the latest funding announcement was a surprise to the club.
“It was a very welcome surprise, though,” Anderson said.
“Our grants officer, Emma Peters, put in a lot of work – so we need to thank her for that.”
There is no set timeline for the project, as it forms part of a larger project to upgrade the Donald community precinct.
The community precinct committee’s chairman, Danny Forrest, said nearly half the money required to complete the project was now secured.
“We are looking to do a full renovation of the centre, including putting in a new court for the basketballers and netballers,” Forrest said.
“The money secured by the netball club will go towards upgrading the female changing facilities within the stadium.”
He said the committee would continue to work hard to secure the remaining funds for the project.
“If we can’t secure the rest of the funding within the next 12 months, we will go ahead with a partial renovation – including the female changing facilities,” Forrest said.
“The Buloke shire has been very supportive of the project and has helped out with a lot of the grants as well as funding part of the project.
“It is just a very important project because it is the most-used facility in the shire.”
St Arnaud received $20,000 last year as part of ANZ’s dream big grant program.
But it still needed more for the desperately needed court resurfacing.
The latest funding announcement should mean the job can now move forward with its planned upgrade.