The Western Country Regional Cricket Hub, an elite cricket training facility, will be built at Monivae College in Hamilton Victoria.
The Victorian Government, Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria through the Community Cricket Program: On Common Ground, will contribute $500,000 towards the project.
Southern Grampians Shire Council is delighted that the facility will be built at Monivae College in Hamilton. Mayor of Southern Grampians Shire Cr Mary-Ann Brown said this facility had the potential to be one of the most exciting sporting, education and community facilities ever seen in Victoria.
“The selection of Hamilton as the location for this unique regional facility supports our strategies to position Hamilton as a major service provider across western Victoria. It also shows the potential of Hamilton’s superior education facilities to act as an economic driver for the entire Greater Hamilton region. This facility will attract players, teams and competitions from across western Victoria and south-east South Australia and will support the development of male and female cricketers with the best sports science technologies and education programs.
“We welcome the funding from the Victorian Government and thank them for supporting a project that will benefit cricket in our region. Monivae College is also to be commended for its initiative, vision and investment,” Cr Brown said.
Monivae Principal Mr Mark McGinnity is extremely grateful to the State Government for their support.
“This project has been many years in the planning, working with Cricket Victoria, Cricket Australia, local and regional cricket associations, Southern Grampians Shire and Sport and Recreation Victoria. It will support participation, high performance and education pathways building on Monivae’s reputation as an elite education provider with first class facilities. The State Government should be commended for its commitment to supporting the development of cricket across the regions, said Mr McGinnity.
Kelvin White, President of Western Waves Cricket Region said the facility would be a huge boost for the region.
“We as a region are obviously very excited to have such a cricket facility develop in our midst. We are sure that it will give impetus to our cricket generally, and provide amazing opportunities for our players. We appreciate all the work that has gone into the planning and look forward to continuing the partnerships with all involved,” Mr White said.
The Western Country Regional Cricket Hub will service south-west Victoria and the Wimmera Mallee regions providing state-of-the-art training facilities to support the personal and sporting development of the best cricketers and community access for people from all backgrounds to maximise their cricketing potential.
The Regional Cricket Hub will create a new indoor and outdoor cricket facility. It will feature a main pavilion with scorers’ box, indoor training centre with a minimum of four pitches, sports science technology and office accommodation for Cricket Victoria representatives. New unisex change-rooms and umpire rooms, public toilets and spectator seating, will also be built. Outdoors, there will be irrigated ovals, new training nets, and 8-10 fully enclosed turf practice and hard wickets.
The total project cost is estimated to be $1.789 million.
Click here to view the Western Country Regional Cricket Hub Plan.