By RUSSELL BENNETT
BUILD it, and they will come.
That was the Cora Lynn Netball Club’s guiding principle at the start of its three-year plan to completely revitalise their facilities.
The courts, clubrooms and amenities had become so run down they didn’t exactly have a choice.
“Three years ago we had an umpire come out here and say to me if we didn’t do something about the state of the place, we wouldn’t be playing here the following season,” said third-year club president Allan Douglas.
“That definitely made us get on our bike and get the new courts, and now we’ve got the new courts, fencing, the best lights in the league, and now the best clubroom in the league.”
The clubrooms were used for the first time on game day on Saturday against Nar Nar Goon.
They were made possible by $320,000 in funding by the Cardinia Shire Council as part of their 2014-15 capital works program.
The new clubrooms provide a social space with a kitchenette and servery for the club, internal male and female toilets, and an undercover spectator area. The building replaces the dilapidated old pavilion, which had long outlived its use-by date. The building’s new toilet facilities have replaced the old toilet block at the reserve, which had become an eyesore. The new public toilets can be used not only by spectators at sporting events at the reserve, but also by local riding groups and residents that exercise at the reserve throughout the week.
“We approached the council about five years ago to get new clubrooms because the toilets were condemned,” Douglas said.
“It kept getting stalled but we just said we had to do something – it was terrible.
“The old rooms had cracks in the walls and you could see outside, and when it’s cold down here it’s really cold.
“Greg Polson from the council has been fantastic… he knows it’s been a frustrating process because we’ve had a few false starts along the way, but this is a great shot in the arm for women’s sport.
“Our fourth and fifth year plan is to start to seal off all the grassed areas that drag all the dirt and rubbish on to the courts.
Douglas said he’d “definitely” sensed that the new facility had already become a drawcard to the Cora Lynn precinct for netballers in the district.
