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The Current Situation Track cycling is just one part of the BSCC offering. All activities at the velodrome are overseen by a sub-committee of the BSCC Board - the BSCC Track Committee. In recent years this committee has won major grants from local, state and federal governments which have resulted in the upgrading of all our facilities. Most recently the club took on the project of building its own clubrooms at Marty Busch Reserve. With only $130,000 to spend it was through the enormous contributions of Peter Martin, Volker Hegert and Mal Calloway that we were able to construct the wonderful pavilion we see at the track today. For the first time the club has a meeting place, toilets and showers - a place to call home! If you have any questions or suggestions about track racing have a chat with one of the Track Committee members below. You are sure to find us down there on Thursday or Sunday afternoons - in fact on most sunny afternoons through summer! BSCC Track Committee
History The Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club came into being as Ballarat Sebastopol Amateur Cycling Club in 1974 following the disbanding of two local but independent cycling clubs, Ballarat Amateur Cycling Club and Sebastopol Amateur Cycling club. Back in the day, summer track racing was held by each club on a ‘home’ track. Ballarat raced in Victoria Park on sealed track with raised banks while Sebastopol used a sealed track in what is now the Marty Busch Sports Complex, amid the mullock left over from the mines just west of where the steeply banked 250 meter concrete velodrome is situated today. What eventually brought the two clubs together was Victorian government policy. Both clubs had shown interest in constructing new tracks; Ballarat was seeking assistance to build a 400 meter track in Victoria Park, while Sebastopol was looking for help to build a new track facility in Sebastopol. Not unlike current-day government policy, the emphasis at the time was for a joined-up approach to funding, so to attract the necessary government investment for a velodrome in Ballarat it was made evident to both clubs that they should merge and form a single entity capable of managing cycling and conducting open level competitive races within Ballarat. This decision allowed funding for the construction of the Colin Smith Velodrome soon after the amalgamation. The early 2000s were not good years for the club but in late 2007 momentum started to build as the club drew junior riders from local schools to participate in track racing on the by then badly degraded Velodrome. Over the next few years numbers grew dramatically with up to 70 riders participating in Thursday night racing. The club won grants and sponsorships that allowed the purchase of more than 40 new track bikes and other equipment. In late 2008 the club was awarded federal government funding which when combined with City of Ballarat support resulted in the $340,000 upgrade of the velodrome to what it is today. A further grant through SRV (and again the City of Ballarat) means that within a week of the 2011 Madison carnival the grandstand will be demolished and work will start on new clubrooms. The successful holding of the 2011 Victorian Madison Championships carnival in Ballarat was a major achievement for the club as it works to become a consistently strong presence in track racing in Victoria. The completion of our new club rooms in August 2011 was another big step. We are proud of the work achieved so far and look forward to much more in the future. We thank all our loyal sponsors for their huge contributions. Have a wonderful day of racing and mark the date in your 2012 calendars because we will be back much bigger and better next year! |
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