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On Wednesday 11 February HRH The Princess Royal officially opened
Sport England’s Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre. The centre
is used on a full time basis by the National Judo Academy but
will also be used by British Judo’s Cadet, Junior and Senior Squad.
At the opening students from Academy performed a dramatic judo
performance in front of Princess Anne, athletes from other sports
and over one hundred VIPs from the community and the sporting
world.
Sport England has invested £10 million of Lottery funding into
the state of the art redevelopment of Bisham Abbey’s 43-acre site
to create an excellent foundation for elite and community sporting
achievement.
The redevelopment has been designed according to the requirements
of the sporting bodies, which predominantly use the centre. Judo
and hockey, in particular, have worked with Sport England in all
four stages of Bisham Abbey’s redevelopment to create unrivalled
training facilities, which enable them to achieve their performance
training targets. The new elements include: a dedicated judo training
hall and video analysis unit; a water-based synthetic hockey pitch;
two squash courts; 11 tennis courts, including four indoor; one
gymnasium and one strength and conditioning hall; and a nine-hole
golf course. Changing rooms, sauna and steam rooms are also featured,
along with shared administrative offices for the principal governing
bodies.
In total, more than 20 sports are able to use the facility with
athletes training alongside a number of World, European and Commonwealth
champions.
Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport and Tourism, said:
“Bisham is precisely the sort of state-of-the-art sport centre
we need to see in the UK. Designed with our best sports stars
in mind, the first class facilities will give them every chance
of reaching the top.
“With young people from the area training alongside our finest
athletes, Bisham will inspire the next generation too. Let’s hope
the facility will help prepare them for an Olympics in London
in 2012.”
Commenting on the opening, Patrick Carter, Chair of Sport England,
said:
“We are delighted that HRH The Princess Royal has officially
opened Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre today.
“Bisham personifies Sport England’s new holistic approach to
sport, ensuring that our elite athletes have access to the very
best training facilities – on the basis of their requirements
and their terms – and that exemplary facilities are also available
to the local community. This re-development, with all sporting
bodies working together and some of them based there, is already
breeding a sense of success for all sports.
“Bisham is an important part of our strategy in helping England
to become an active and successful sporting nation”
As well as Judo, Bisham is predominantly used by elite athletes
from hockey, football, rugby union, tennis and rowing. Around
1,500 community members use the site for approximately 1,000 hours
per week. The GB men’s and women’s hockey teams are preparing
for the Athens Olympics at Bisham. England Under 21s Rugby and
England’s world ranking Sevens’ squad have also recently used
the facility as a regular training venue. The England football
team has trained at Bisham and, most recently, the Under 21s team
has used Bisham as a training base
Mark Beecher, British Judo's Operations Manager said: “The building
is a reflection of what judo has always dreamed of having: sprung
floors, a light spacious area, which are all conducive to players
enjoying training and developing their skills. The facility will
enable those players present and future to fully develop their
talents and hopefully bring success to the sport and Britain.
“In addition, the wealth of support facilities and personnel
will create the perfect environment for current and future champions.”
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