IT’S TOUCH AND GO IN BID FOR LIGHTS
A PUSH by Geelong’s only touch football association to get floodlights installed at King Lloyd Reserve is a goosestep closer to being achieved.
The Geelong Touch Association (GTA) has been named a finalist in the 2017 Victorian Sports Awards in the Outdoor/ Active Recreation Initiative of the Year category.
GTA president Rohan Greaves said he hoped the recognition would aid the association’s push for about $300,000 in funding to install floodlights on its home at King Lloyd Reserve, Newtown — allowing it to run winter competitions on the ground.
“I think it will give us some more exposure to display the need for funding,” Mr Greaves said. “We’ve had some calls from Sport and Rec Victoria wanting to know more about our project, so there’s a bit more interest in our project lately.
“It’s still not quite over the line, but hopefully we’re getting closer.”
The GTA is home to about 30 teams and almost 300 players — including about 120 females and 50 juniors — with numbers expected to swell to more than 450 in coming years.
The lack of lighting previously forced the association to move games to Belmont Common, where smaller spaces meant fewer matches or decreased game times.
The GTA has missed out on council funding for the floodlights six times in the past four years, as it struggles to attract the roughly $300,000 needed.
The reserve’s other tenant, Newtown Hockey Club, would also benefit from the lighting project.
Basketball Geelong chief executive Dean Anglin is also up for a Victorian Sports Award in the Victorian Sports Administrator of the Year category.
Mr Anglin had been at the forefront of the new six-court Crows Rd stadium, which will be able to cater for more than 3500 players a week, increasing Basketball Geelong’s ability to attract new kids to the sport.