Shellharbour's netball community has received a boost with the opening of six new courts at the Croom Regional Sporting Complex in time for the new season.
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The six courts, valued at $460,000, have been constructed to a competition standard and will help accommodate many of the 550 netballers registered to teams in the Shellharbour area.
The courts were funded by Shellharbour City Council's section 94 funds.
"These courts will now be a real asset to our city," Mayor Marianne Saliba said.
Two Illawarra District Netball Association clubs - Southern Suburbs Netball Club and the Shellharbour Netball Club - will call the courts home, although weekend competition games will continue at Berkeley and Fairy Meadow. Previously the clubs trained on the nearby grass courts.
Southern Suburbs president Kathy Furlong said players took to the new courts for training for the first time immediately after the official opening on Thursday evening.
More netball courts will be needed if the complex is to attract weekend competition, but plans for more courts and facilities have been complicated by potential changes to the route of the proposed Albion Park Rail bypass.
In December Roads and Maritime Services informed Shellharbour City Council that the new netball courts and neighbouring stadium could make way for the new highway.
