By Mitchell Clarke
Serving up one of his many election promises, La Trobe MP Jason Wood pulled out the strings and officially switched on the new LED lights at the Officer Tennis Club.
The club received almost $50,000 in funding from the Federal Government to install LED lights and provide an upgrade to the facility.
“Upgrading current halogen court lights to more environmentally sustainable LED lights will reduce club operation costs by 65%, allowing for funds to be diverted to other initiatives,” Mr Wood said.
It’s hoped shining a light on tennis will encourage more people to consider picking up a racket and have a go at the already popular sport, with the new lights set to escalate night time participation.
“We can now run a night competition. We also have a lot of social hitters so I’m confident this will see more people getting on the courts,” Officer Tennis Club Secretary Karina Clark said.
The club currently hold a social night competition on Wednesday nights and are hoping to increase to another night.
“We’re really rapt, it’s taken a bit of time since applying in August last year, but it’s come to fruition which is really great to see.”
Mr Wood said the project to upgrade the tennis club was a key priority for him because of the significant benefits it’d have on the Officer community.
“Sport plays an important role across the Officer region and the benefits of the Federal Government investment in the facilities will be felt right through across the community,” Mr Wood said.
“I’m proud to have fought for this project and delivered the funding for my local community and am proud to be seeing it through to fruition.”
