The Preston Sports Arena has been named as the location for the training facilities of the Pacific Islanders for the 2012 Olympic Games hosted in Great Britain.
The PSA will have a major role in the preparation of Athletes from the Island’s with the usage of their 8 lane running track, football pitches and gym equipment.
A delegation fronted by Dr. Robin Mitchell, Secretary General of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) led a delegation to view the top-class facilities. The delegation team consisted of representatives from Papua New Guinea, Guam, Fiji and Solomon Islands.
The party toured PSA with UCLan’s Dr Graham Baldwin, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Skills & Employer Engagement) and Dr Adrian Ibbetson, Academic Director of UCLanSport.
Dr Ibbetson explained: "The Oceania delegation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Northwest Regional Development Agency to use the North West as its training base in the four year period building up to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
"Obviously our top-rated facilities at PSA are a major attraction and we look forward to welcoming Oceania’s Olympic athletes from a variety of sporting disciplines.
"There will be lots of possibilities for knowledge transfer, athlete/student development and research exchange in addition to full year work placements within Oceania countries for UCLan students."
The MoU sets out an agreement to develop wide ranging links. These include:
1. Pre London 2012 preparation and holding camps.
2. Oceania athletes and support staff training in the North West
full or part time on education programmes or work placements, linking into
club, coaching and competition structures in the region. UCLan has been actively involved in these discussions.
3. Working together on a range of sports development initiatives back in Oceania to help grow sport and create a genuine sustainable legacy for sport in Oceania from the relationship.
4. To develop wider educational and cultural exchanges between Oceania and the North West, linking to the values of the London 2012 Education programme and the Cultural Olympiad.
Dr Ibbetson continued: "We’ll be able to offer the Oceania teams a range of sporting expertise including advice on strength and conditioning, sports science and sports therapy.
Story adapted from original written by, Gill Membery, for UCLan news.
History of the site
The site of the Preston Sports Arena currently occupies was previously named Valentines Farm on Tom Benson Way, Ashton-on-Ribble. The 60 acre site began to be developed way back in 1998.
The £7.9 million pound grant that was given to the university in 1995 by the National Lottery (Lottery Award), was the largest ever grant given to sport at that time. The whole site cost £12.2million pounds to construct.
Extending for almost a mile from entrance to west perimeter, the site was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 13 April 2000. The outdoor sports complex offers a vast array of facilities for student, school and community. It includes; seven grass football pitches, three grass rugby pitches, an eight-lane international standard athletics track, an indoor training facility, six five-a-side all-weather pitches, two full-size all-weather football/hockey pitches, four tennis/netball courts, a cricket pitch, a 1.5km cycle circuit, a fitness suite and a range of fitness classes.
The centrepiece is the eight lane athletics area which is fully equipped for school, club and county competitions.
Sport is one of the University's key areas for development. The magnificent Preston Sports Arena is a significant, milestone in improving sports facilities for students. Clubs can book facilities for additional training and friendly matches. All students are also welcome to use the facilities with a valid membership card or paying a casual fee.
And also during the mornings every Saturday, the PSA host a professional soccer coaching school for children between the ages of 5-15 years. For more details on getting yourself or child involved call Jed Starkey on 07974189626 or click the link >>>>> here >>>>>> to visit the interactive site.
The PSA: Gold, Silver or Bronze?
An this present time the facilities are of a excellent standard for students and the public. There are few places in the country that will offer the same standard and value for money. But is it enough for athletes of the Oceania team?
PSA Assistant, Harry Carmel, 22, believes that if it is good enough for professionals then it should be for Olympians “We’ve had Leicester, Charlton, Preston have been ere a few times, but the most famous team that have been ere while I’ve worked ere, and I’ve been ere just over 3 years now, is Espanyol.”
Speculation on future improvements to the current site is rife amongst staff. Assistant, Harry Carmel, 22, showed me around the ever improving site including it’s newest addition.
Harry, also gave insight on what he believes will be happening in the future to the arena. “For 2012 apparently we’ve just renovated an outdoor sand pitch and changed it to indoor Astroturf (named the Training Zone), but when I came for my induction in here (the new weights room, see video above), he (the inductor) said that the training zone area would have been used for a bigger gym because they did hope to get an area bigger that this, because of planning permission this is what they ended up with.”
He continued “Apparently they wanted it a lot bigger, so they might expand by 2012. I couldn’t imagine an Olympic team having a session in an area the size of this, it’s a bit small but, we’ll see.”
The PSA is and will continue to be a fine place for any team to train, and if the ambition and constant improvement of UCLan is anything to go by then the sports arena will be a magnificent spectacle by 2012.
NEED MORE…..
The distance the teams are travelling is enormous, over 10, 000 miles (on a seperate post). To find out more about Preston’s 2012 guests then follow the links below
http://www.oceaniasport.com/
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=2-4734-0-0-0
