THE 2022 Western Border Football and Netball League season kicks off this weekend, with Casterton-Sandford heading over the border for the first match against West Gambier.

On-field, a full line-up including a number of key recruits, have seen the ground packed for training nights and a positive vibe through the club.

Former Cats Alister Bright, Billy Galpin, Jesse Walker-Gould and Cody Ireland return to the fold after successes at other clubs both in Victoria and interstate and will provide key support across the ground.

Former Portland and Nhill midfielder, Edmund Pritchard, and Wagga backman and ruck contender, Jack Thompson, round out the new faces.

Max Rooke returns to his home cattery as head of strategical analysis, planning and development, supporting the senior coaching role.

Cats president, Dylan Ayton said the club was excited to be entering a season which – touch wood – would be uninterrupted by pandemic restrictions and with membership and sponsorship “looking really strong”, was set to enjoy a successful season, off-field.

“The executive has been working really hard to get some projects in the pipeline for this season,” Ayton said.

“We’re looking forward to hosting an Indigenous round this season, which we think will be really exciting and the life members will finally be able to host the reunion of the 1990 premiership team, which has been put off for a couple of years due to COVID-19,” he said.

“We’ve got a really good social committee with Kerri Harvey this year and they’ve put together a really exciting calendar of events where we can welcome everyone – singles, kids, adults, whole families – to the club.

“We began that big focus on trying to get our local kids back into our sports last year, not just for the benefit of the club, but for their health and social well-being.

“And we want to take it further than that, even if the kids aren’t playing, if people are reading this from out of town, we want to be the place where they can bring the kids in and just have a really good afternoon, whether they’re on the field or not, out in their community.”

As an added bonus for local families, the club has significantly cut junior fees for both netball and football this year, aware of the financial burden of registration costs.

“We’ve completely dropped all of the club fees for this year, so essentially, the only fees to be paid are the ones to the leagues, which is, essentially, insurance or affiliation,” Ayton said.

“The netball fees are a little bit higher and there’s nothing we can do about that, because they’re paid directly to the governing body, rather than via the club, but we hope this helps out our families.”

Upgrades around Island Park continue full steam-ahead, with long-awaited upgrades to the bathrooms in the social rooms, now complete.

“It was absolutely essential that we get those upgrades done, new tiling, new partitions, new fixtures,” Ayton said.

“Our bar manager and catering group are doing such a fantastic job in looking after the groups that use our facilities – and there are getting to be more and more of them – that we really needed to have those facilities to support the work they do.

“They are bringing in a lot of income for the club, which gives us the money that allows us to improve these things, so it’s great to be able to get it done.”

The Glenelg Shire’s work on the CR Gill Pavilion is also in full swing, with a new roof, external paint, new windows and improvements to the bathroom facilities well on-track to be completed by the first home game.

“The upgrades that are happening there, they are a big thank you and a credit to (Cr Karen Stephens) and (chief executive, Greg Burgoyne) and the shire and we really want to thank them for their ongoing help and support for us,” Ayton said.

“The change rooms were in desperate need of an upgrade, they were really difficult to deal with as far as cleaning goes and it’s going to be a real boost to the players to have this new, fresh space to be in before each game.”

Western Border season 2022 kicks off this weekend, with the Cats taking on the Roos at Malseed Park.