Work starts on stadium

By Kelly Yates
THE Oatlander Outlaws Basketball Club will soon have a place to call home after what a former president of the club describes as a “six-year battle to get a stadium built in Casey.”
Construction works on the Timbarra Sports Stadium have begun, with former president Peter Rymer saying the club was over the moon that the stadium was in the process of being developed.
More than 300 basketball players from the club will be based at the Berwick stadium, which will be built as part of the Timbarra P-9 School managed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Mr Rymer said having everyone under the same roof would benefit both the players and coaches.
“The club has teams training all over the place, some up to 10 kilometres away, so it will be great to have everyone training at the one location,” he said.
“The coaches will have the facilities to make the players better and enhance the team spirit,”
La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Casey mayor Lorraine Wreford visited the site last Thursday to announce the start of construction of the highly anticipated stadium.
The stadium will be used by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development during school hours and the Casey community outside of those hours.
City of Casey sport and recreation manager Richard Amon said Casey council had allocated $1.07 million towards the project which is being matched by $500,000 from Sport and Recreation Victoria and $2 million from the Federal Government Better Regions Program.
Casey mayor Lorraine Wreford said the construction of the stadium was a good example of all levels of government working together to provide the facilities that the community needs.
“The City of Casey is committed to supporting local sports clubs and providing facilities to meet the needs of our growing population,” Cr Wreford said.
The Timbarra Sports Stadium is expected to be completed by the end of this year.