Lara Tennis Club excited for ace new pavilion

LOCAL tennis members in Lara knew it was time their home needed an upgrade after operating without things like hot water for so long – now they are getting them.

The Lara Tennis Club is excited their new pavilion will begin undergoing construction at Lara Recreation Reserve next month.

The club will share the new pavilion with the Lara Netball Club once the build is completed by early-2022.

“We needed something done with the pavilion for us to keep up with the growing population of Lara and all the real estate going up,” head coach Jake Dunn said.

“Having the pavilion redeveloped will help us keep up-to-date with the times so to speak, and it will also create a lot of benefits for the club.”

Currently Lara Tennis Club holds around 150 players in junior coaching programs.

It also boasts seven junior teams and three senior teams that represent the club competitively.

The prospect of a new clubhouse at Lara Recreation Reserve will make hosting more tennis tournaments a reality according to Dunn.

“Once construction is done, we are looking to increase what we can provide not just to members, but also the Greater Geelong area,” he said.

“We have had conversations with Barwon Tennis about potentially hosting a junior competition team with some of the best players from around Geelong representing Barwon and playing against other associations like Melbourne.”

The new upgrades are set to include toilets, hot water service, change room facilities that cater to female athletes, showers and a multi-purpose room that will enable both the tennis and netball clubs to host functions and fundraisers.

Club president Rob Dando said members were eager to get the pavilion renovated.

“The members are very excited that they are going to get a state-of-the-art facility,” Dando said.

“We are still waiting on final draft copies from the City of Greater Geelong, but we expect them to be very similar to the draft copies we have seen.

“The reception has been very good from the members though.”

The Lara Tennis Club will continue with its normal competition schedule until construction is complete.

Council allocated $2.1 million from the 2020-21 Budget for the Lara Recreation Reserve Masterplan and the state government contributed a further $250,000 through the 2020 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund.