22 Aug 2017 The Free Press, Kilmore, VIC (General News) BROADFORD Secondary College students and Mitchell Rangers Soccer Club will be able to play sports into the night with an upgrade to the lighting on the schools sporting facilities. Member for Northern Victoria, Jaclyn Symes and Mitchell Shire Mayor, Cr Rhonda Sanderson, joined students and club representatives last Thursday, August 17, to announce that funding of $121,275 has been allocated to upgrade lighting on Broadford Secondary Colleges sports oval in partnership with Mitchell Shire Council. Ms Symes had worked closely with the Mitchell Rangers Soccer Club, Broadford Secondary College and Mitchell Shire to secure the funding. Im very proud to deliver this project as it not only assists Broadford Secondary College students with their sporting and recreation activities but also provides the growing Mitchell Rangers Soccer Club even greater training and playing opportunities, Ms Symes said. Having lighting will open up significant new opportunities for both the school and soccer club. We want our students and clubs to be as active as possible and improving facilities like this means that everyone in our community can benefit. This project will help to build a sense of community pride and value in the school by bringing together local neighbourhoods and making local services more accessible. It also allows the Mitchell Rangers Soccer Club to train under lights and grow its club even further, Ms Symes added Cr Sanderson said it was an important project, especially given the growth of sports such as soccer. Encouraging healthy and active communities is a major priority for council, and this lighting upgrade will ensure our residents have even more opportunities to participate in sport, Cr Sanderson said. This upgrade will help maximise the use of the facilities, and therefore participation, by expanding the lit areas of the ground. This will have major benefits for teams training in the evenings, and also potentially opens up the pitch to be able to accommodate night competitions. The upgrade has come at an opportune time, with participation at the Mitchell Rangers Soccer Club booming by 53 per cent from 2010-2016, Cr Sanderson said. The Shared Facilities Fund aims to open up school facilities to the greater community, providing a win-win as schools get upgraded facilities and residents get access to infrastructure to grow their clubs and activities. The funding is part of the $50 million Shared Facilities Fund, announced in the 2016-17 Victorian Budget, which helps build much-needed new community facilities on school sites across Victoria and fosters closer relationships between schools and communities. The lighting upgrade comes on the back of the Broadford Sports Pavilion, which was built last year. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.