THE federal government has chipped in to hand the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club $12,000 to help build a viewing platform ahead of next year’s Interregional competition.
Member for Mallee Andrew Broad made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon to tennis officials with the funding coming from the second round of the Stronger Communities Program (SCP).
Tennis in the region continues to go from strength to strength under the current board with Tennis Victoria reportedly extremely satisfied with the way the sport is developing in the Mallee.
During the announcement, Mr Broad said it was an honour to announce the funding for the club — despite it being the first time he has visited the facility since his election in 2013.
“One of the things about my job is you get to see so many great sporting facilities, and I haven’t seen this before, but I am excited to give it the extra enhancement,” he said.
“You need to have good sporting facilities to build a good community. You need key infrastructure, but you need to bring everyone together and sport plays a vital role in that.
“It is a worthy investment. It brings the dollars in and that is important, but it is getting our young Australians more active more often. I am no good at tennis, my wife kicks my arse, but we love it.”
Mr Broad also said he couldn’t believe the scale of the grass courts, but agreed it would be a boon for the region.
With federal funding approved, Swan Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet club president Peter Morrison said it was exciting, and he expected work to be completed in six months.
“We can start work now. We have a group of committee members with some great ideas in place to keep moving forward and want it to be ready in January for the Interregional Comp,” he said.
“We can now offer respite from the heat and for the elderly folks to come and watch the tennis. This idea was put forward by Christian Devlin and the submission was led by John Brookshaw…we are all grateful for the funding.”
