Surf Coast FC nets new home

ABOVE: Surf Coast FC secretary Eva Betts with one of the club's junior sides in front of the newly renovated Grant Pavilion. Photos: MICHAEL CHAMBERS

A FOUR-YEAR project is now complete at Banyul Warri Fields giving Torquay’s only soccer club new facilities.

Surf Coast Football Club has received the keys back to Grant Pavilion following a $2.1 million extension project that now provides the club with a new social space and elevated tiered seating for all three soccer pitches.

Surf Coast FC president Brett King said it has been a long time coming for the club not having a home since September last year.

“The best feeling was getting to open the building the first couple of times and then seeing different teams coming through,” King said.

“Bringing old club photos, honour boards and previous flags back into the pavilion as well as past members is a fantastic achievement for the club given the timeline we had and two years of disruption.”

King said the two “soft openings” the club has already hosted have been well-received with good spirits and high numbers.

The Grant Pavilion Extension will be officially opened tomorrow (Friday) afternoon at 5pm, with local and state government representatives and club members in attendance.

For the past year, Surf Coast FC had been sharing facilities with its neighbour club Surf Coast Suns.

Shared club changerooms and umpire changerooms were occupied by both clubs, while Surf Coast FC also utilised a shipping container for storage during that time.

The club has held a pair of “soft openings” at the pavilion with a grand opening to take place tomorrow afternoon.

“All these things just meant that everything was very disorganised, the space wasn’t big enough and it was uncomfortable,” King said.

“These were just the playing elements; from a social standpoint we had no space to gather.

“For a club within a growing area like North Torquay and a region like the Surf Coast, our players come from diverse backgrounds, so the ability to facilitate new friendship groups outside of individual teams was really limited.

“It was a big loss at the time, but it is something we can easily rectify moving forward.

“It’s a promising time ahead.”

The new extension now provides all precinct users with two new change rooms, two new umpire/referee rooms, two refurbished umpire/referee rooms and four accessible toilets.