Club president Fern Hahn said it was fantastic to see work get underway after the club received a state government grant in April.

“It has been a long time in the making with a lot of work done by a lot of people,” she said. “Finally it’s coming to fruition and I think we are all a bit stunned that it’s actually happening. It’s been a bit of relief and disbelief and it will be lovely to play on something that is even and is a quality surface.”

The work was originally planned to start in December, but Ms Hahn was still hopeful the courts would be ready to play on in March.

“We would like to start training on them as soon as possible,” she said.

The works are part of a plan to make the club more family friendly, and help bring more netballers to the club.

“We are always wanting more players at our club, and we are doing other things to have more family-friendly facilities,” Ms Hahn said.

“The courts are the first part and our main aim is to get more people involved with netball. 

“One of the big things we are trying to do is entice mums back. “It’s not always easy when you have young kids, so we are going to try to organise a play area and an undercover seating area – places where it makes it easier for players to enjoy netball.”

St Arnaud starts its netball season on April 14.