Community sport
Bill TILLEY (Benambra) (09:50): I am glad the Minister for Community Sport – do not run off, just listen to this please. Winter sport has wrapped up with a terrific win for the Collingwood Football Club last Saturday in the AFL, but back in the patch, back in Benambra, the strength of community sport was on show two weeks earlier with massive turnouts to the Tallangatta district finals series. The Chiltern Swans went back-to-back in the footy seniors and reserves, beating Kiewa Sandy Creek and Yackandandah respectively. Mentioned in dispatches is one particular player from Chiltern, and I am about to make him famous, but it is going to cost him a few beers. Caleb Boxall, Chiltern’s number 10 in the seniors match, nearly won the game with a left foot snap but hit the post and nearly lost the game moments later, giving away a 50-metre penalty. However, they won the game and celebrations were surely had after another 30 seconds, when Chiltern were the Tallangatta & District Football League premiers. Despite the on-field achievements, Chiltern’s home facilities are outdated and inadequate. Many of our sporting clubs such as Chiltern, Rutherglen and Yackandandah are asking to know how they can fund modern change rooms for both men and women, and replace the canteens, which look more like whitegoods at the tip. There is a hole in the funding model that needs fixing.