User group and the stadiums own competitions return to the court from this week, starting with badminton last night.
‘‘I know there are many people who are keen to get back out at the stadium for our regular competitions,’’ Mr Arthur said.
‘‘We will be looking to start our regular men’s and ladies basketball, as well as our ladies and mixed indoor netball competitions.
‘‘With the use of two courts, we can now potentially hold the basketball competitions on the same night, which opens up more opportunities and frees up some time during the week.
‘‘Having two basketball courts also opens up the potential for people to come down and have a casual shot of basketball if there is only one court getting used.’’
With the extra available night, Mr Arthur said he is looking to revive an indoor cricket competition, with the stadium now boasting a new state of the art indoor cricket court.
He said there has already been interest from locals to sign up for the new comp.
‘‘There are 20 to 25 guys who can’t wait to get a competition started, and we’ve also had a few ladies that are also keen,’’ Mr Arthur said.
‘‘We could easily start a men’s competition quite quickly and if we get enough interest we could run a ladies or a mixed comp too.
‘‘The beauty of indoor cricket is that it’s very inclusive, as everyone gets to bat and bowl.
‘‘You also only have to run half the distance of a normal pitch when batting, and you don’t necessarily have to be good at cricket; it’s all about fun.
‘‘We may even look to run a sporting competition on a Sunday too, whether it be indoor cricket or even basketball, mixed netball, or any other groups who may want to use the space.’’
Mr Arthur is also quite excited for the loyal user groups of the stadium, saying there was plenty of benefits for all of the clubs who use the facilities.
‘‘Badminton now has eight courts and many members of the Badminton Club inspected the courts last week and were very impressed,’’ he said.
‘‘The Lifeball Group is very excited to be returning to the stadium which has been its home since 1999.
‘‘As with the other groups, the additional courts will enable the Lifeballers to host fun and friendship days against other towns.
‘‘The Deniliquin Junior Giants have not been able to use the stadium for this season which has been hard on the players and coaches.
‘‘All the Giants are looking forward to having the new courts for season 2020/21. Domestic basketball will thrive with the coaches now having court space for their teams to practice.
‘‘Deniliquin Futsal will now have two courts which will assist the senior and junior competitions. Futsal is a major growth sport in Deniliquin.’’
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