Basketball capital Ballarat

JULIANA Addison, Member for Wendouree, announced funding for an upgrade to support all-abilities sports at the Mars Minerdome.

The stadium will receive just under $770,000 from the Community Sports Infrastructure Loans Scheme.

The money will be used to transform unisex change rooms, create wheel-chair friendly access and add a new lift and meeting rooms designed to ensure people of all abilities can enjoy the amenities.

Ms Addison said Ballarat loves basketball and the State Government wants to make basketball more inclusive.

“The loan of three quarters of a million dollars to the Ballarat Basketball Association is to upgrade the facility is accessible to all members of the community as well as our elite wheelchair athletes,” she said.

“We are bringing the Minerdome into the 21st century providing first class facilities for all our athletes.”

Peter Eddy, Basketball Ballarat CEO, said the work that will be done at the Minerdome, made possible by the low interest loan was, “A tremendous initiative that we need to build on.

“It allows us not only to have our wheelchair sports program and our special Olympics at a local level but then to go after major events we could bring to Ballarat,” he said.

“This will put us in front of the game of most associations of recognising adaptive sports and working at that level.”