Dear Santa,
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We would like to let there be bright light this Christmas please. A giant outdoor search light kinda beam, a little like the Bat signal but without the cry for help.
We would like to let it be known Ballarat is a major sporting player. While we tend to go about our hosting duties quite unassumingly when it comes to big events, it is time for us to start blowing our own trumpet - but a huge spotlight or two to flash in the sky and prove we mean action seems most fitting.
Our Mars Stadium has been hosting AFL premiership season games for three years now. Western Bulldogs, who have set up a kennel here, has a five-year deal with City of Ballarat but a little more assurance and puppy love would be nice.
The Bulldogs are not playing any AFL pre-season matches here - okay, we understand we cannot be greedy - but we are missing out on AFLW again even though we know our boutique-sized stadium would be perfect for it.
While the Bulldogs keep promising they are committed to Ballarat for the long-haul, the club did unveil ambitious plans this year to redevelop their spiritual home Whitten Oval into an up-to-AFL-standard boutique stadium to seat 18,000 fans. We only hold about 16,000 at the moment.
Perhaps you could suggest the Bulldogs throw us an extra bone this Christmas?
As influential as you are though Santa, we need to be proactive in making sure the Bulldogs stick around. Just like we hope Cycling Australia Road National Championships keep riding in Buninyong - we are waiting for a contract negotiation to publicly confirm this is the home of cycling.
We need to show up, we need to be vocal in support and we need to ensure a whole-town welcome wagon feel, starting with the RoadNats early next month.
A giant light beam, which would be especially effective for the evening criteriums, adds to the hype and sends the signal we do not want to be taken for granted - just as we should not take such events for granted.
Victorian Football League revealed this week a game in Ballarat. Not the Bulldogs' Footscray arm, but we get standalone Coburg Lions, whose den is undergoing renovations, and powerhouse Collingwood. This is a big opportunity as Collingwood fans will travel en masse any time and anywhere.
In other codes, we are really starting to kick goals.
Melbourne Rebels have locked in Ballarat's first full-scale Super Rugby match for February. The match, against South African-based Sharks, is the first the Rebels will play for premiership points outside AAMI Park.
New A-League franchise Western United is ready to move in too. United will play four premiership season matches on Mars, the first against Wellington Phoenix is next Saturday.
It would be absolutely remiss of us Santa to not say a massive thank you for the jumbo screens last Christmas. They were installed inside our new Ballarat Sports and Events Centre showcourt last week.
They will make a massive difference to the vibe for indoor sports in town. We hosted the city's first Women's National Basketball League in-season game this month. Now we just need to start working on bringing the men's elite for full-scale hit-out and, now we have the right facilities (jumbo screen included), a Super Netball game would be fantastic.
A spotlight would draw attention to what we can offer at BSEC. Maybe even a Main Event like Bendigo had this year.
Yours in festive spirit,
Melanie (on behalf of Ballarat)
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