An indoor football centre could be on the cards for Castle Douglas.
Threave Rovers youth development is in the early stages of putting together plans for the facility after becoming fed up at spending thousands of pounds to hire places for kids to play and train during the bad weather.
Seven-a-side pitches with 3G surfaces, changing rooms and classrooms are among the facilities the £500,000 centre could feature, although it is still a long way from becoming reality.
Youth development chairman Mark Geddes said: “We are in the early stages. We haven’t even got round to applying for funding yet.
“I don’t want to say this is definitely going to happen and then it doesn’t. It is still just an idea.
“During the winter we have to use the 3G in Dalbeattie and the younger ones use the hall at Castle Douglas High.
“It’s very expensive. In November it cost us £2500 and that’s just for one month so it’s a bit of a no-brainer.
“Over the winter, for six or seven months we’re spending probably more than £14,000 and that isn’t sustainable. We’d rather invest that in our own facility.
“The idea is to have similar to what Queen of the South have with two seven-a-side pitches, changing rooms and a classroom area.
“It would be similar to what Lochar Thistle have, although bigger, which is effectively a farmer’s shed and we would be looking at £300,000 to £500,000 once we have got a bit of land.”
The club, which opened an outdoor facility at Birkland Park in 2008, is currently in negotiations for a site in the town.
The youth development section caters for more than 100 kids aged 5-18, boys and girls, but Mr Geddes insisted that the centre would not just be for the club. He explained: “There are other groups in Castle Douglas who are hiring halls and they could use this one.
“My philosophy is it’s not just about football, it’s about life skills so we could do so much more with the kids such as breakfast clubs.”
