The Hanwood Sports Club entered the new year with the best news they’d had in some time.
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Roger Bertacco from the club was pleased to say the club is now “on the right path” as it is no longer under administration as of late last year.
After the Hanwood Sports Club went into administration in 2011, the future of the club looked bleak.
The club was handed back to the board in 2012, but remained under administration.
At one point they carried debts of nearly $800,000.
“To get to this point was a lot of hard work from our board,” he said.
“A lot of hard decisions had to be made, some not very popular, like the selling of the club.
“We had to put on a lot of activities like dinner dances and raffles to raise money to make sure we don't go back down that path.”
In 2013 Pittari Transport owner Louis Pittari purchased the Yarran Street building for an undisclosed sum.
This sale of the building to the Pittari family all but wiped those debts and gave the club a fresh chance at survival.
Mr Betacco said it would’ve been easy to call it quits back in 2012.
“We could have just said ‘it’s too hard to fight through this’ and given up then,” he said
“All credit to our board as they had a never say die attitude.
“I have to thank every patron who was involved and supported the club because if they didn’t support us, then this might not have been a reality.”
With a storied history behind the club, it’s still unsure whether it can return to its glory days, but he said they’ll give it a shot.
“The club has an amazing sporting history for one thing,” he said.
“From young kids to adults, so at least they have a sports club.
“You can just imagine in the late '50s and '60s it took a lot of sacrifice by members to get the club up and running and we just wanted to keep it going.
“It's hard to tell, but moving forward the opportunity is there to make it grow again and we've got a big facility here so that will be the goal.
“The past four years we’ve been just fighting for survival to make sure we don't go back down that path of administration.”
The club already seems to be on the right path.
“We're starting to get weddings again,” Mr Bertacco said.
“People are getting confidence that the club will still be here.
“It's baby steps but the aim is to return it to its former glory.”
The club will hold it’s AGM in April where it will look to appoint three new members to fill the vacancies.
