A bright future

There’s plenty more on the “bucket list” for improvements at the Neerim South recreation reserve.

With the $1.1 million oval redevelopment now completed the reserve’s committee of management is looking to further improve facilities.

Treasurer Steve Vincent said that in the short term it was hoped to have an electronic scoreboard installed.

“We’ve applied for a grant from Baw Baw shire and are hopeful we’ll get the scoreboard sometime during this season,” he said.

But further down the track both he and president John Rochford have plenty of ideas.

The football changerooms are small by today’s standards and there is also a need for changerooms to accommodate future female football teams, they said.

Mr Rochford and Mr Vincent can envisage changerooms built into the embankment on one side of the ground to allow players to run directly onto the ground rather than negotiate a stairway from the current rooms.

The umpires’ rooms are out of date too, they said, with the current rooms built in the days when there were two umpires per football games, not today’s three, plus goal umpires and as many as four boundary umpires often including some females.

The roof area of the rooms would provide another elevated viewing area.

Relocation of the timekeepers box would provided an opportunity from some terraced spectator seating and the car parking area within the reserve expanded are other improvements on the drawing board.