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73 North West Sporting Facilities to appear in London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide

  Pictured here are  

Front row, left – right Hayley Jones, potential athletic 2012 Olympian,Shaun Mitchell-Issitt – potential BMX 2012 Olympian, Jessica Mair, Olympian hopeful for 2012

  Back row, left to right Leader of Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council, Brian Sylvestor,

Councillor Phil MaGinnis, Dean from MMU, Dennis Dunn, Rob Young, North West Co-ordinator for the 2012 Olympics

 

Over 73 North West sporting venues have been selected to appear in the official London 2012 pre-Games Training Camp Guide, highlighting the region’s world-class facilities and heralding the region as a centre of sporting excellence.

 

The North West’s high-quality elite-standard sporting venues will be available for use by athletes from all over the world in the lead up to the London 2012 Games.

 

The North West centres featured in the Guide include 10 in Cheshire, including Kelsall hill Equestrian Centre, SKK Judo Club and Somerford Park Farm.

 

In addition, several major football grounds and training grounds, equestrian centres and other swimming pools, sport centres, martial arts centres and gymnasiums across Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cumbria, Cheshire and Lancashire appear in the directory, including: Anderton Centre in Bolton for canoeing and kayaking, Bury Football Club, Bolton Lads and Girls Club for boxing, Platt Fields Park for BMX, Blackpool Sports Centre and Kendal Judo Club. 

 

The guide also features several of those used in the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, such as Manchester Aquatics Centre, the Manchester Velodrome and the Regional Athletics Arena at Sportcity, also Bolton Arena and Rivington Pike for mountain biking.

 

Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, who visited the North West for the launch of the Guide said:  “It is fantastic news that so many sporting facilities in the North West have met the strict criteria to be included in this Training Camp Guide.  This offers up a real opportunity for communities across this region – and the whole of the country – to feel the excitement of being part of the Games in Britain. And this is a chance too for towns and cities to forge strong international links and sell their sporting venues on the world stage.  I wish each and every one of them luck.”

 

Stewart Kellett, Regional Director for Sport England, on behalf of the North West Steering Group for the 2012 Games, says: “The North West’s sporting facilities are first-rate and this well-deserved accolade, highlighting our venues to a global market, is testament to the dedication and passion we have for sport in the region.

 

“The North West has a high concentration of sporting talent - not only high-profile names such as Beth Tweddle, Ricky Hatton and Steve Parry, but also at grass roots level. We have proved that the North West is an ideal environment to nurture and develop raw talent and produce future sporting stars.  Having our sporting facilities highlighted within the Guide standard forms part of a lasting legacy - these elite-class facilities will all be open for the public to use, which means all communities in the region can benefit.”    

 

 

Over 600 facilities will appear in the Guide, to be published at the Beijing Games.  It contains high quality elite sporting facilities right across the UK which will give teams and individual athletes a great selection of venues from which they can choose to prepare for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.  The Guide will be circulated to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). These organisations will then decide where they base themselves or where to send individual athletes to prepare and acclimatise for London 2012. 

 

Extensive details of the facilities will appear on a dedicated website showcasing the quality and variety of options throughout the UK which will help NOCs / NPCs decide where to train. The national tourism agency, Visit Britain, is developing this new website with LOCOG and will bring its experience of marketing destinations and tourism products to international audiences. 

 

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is also able to offer a financial award of up to £25,000 to NOCs/NPCs to help encourage teams to base themselves in the UK.  LOCOG has an allocation from its privately raised budget for this process and believes this will be an incentive for NOCs / NPCs to base themselves in the UK.

 

Simon Clegg, Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association, said: “LOCOG’s Pre-Games Training Camp Guide is an outstanding publication, highlighting the huge choice of world class facilities on offer within the UK, which will greatly assist the other NOCs and NPCs in their final preparations for London 2012.  The last weeks of an athletes’ preparation for an Olympic Games can have a significant impact on their performance.  I am confident that this Guide, together with LOCOG’s generous financial award scheme, will enable a far greater number of Olympic and Paralympic teams to participate in pre Games training within the host nation than in any previous Games.”

 

Facilities in the Guide range from well known major sporting hubs, universities and independent schools, community facilities, and sport specific clubs.  A full list of the facilities that appear in the Guide is published by nation and region breakdown in the “Note to Editors”.    They were assessed against strict technical criteria such as the ability to offer high quality sports training facilities, experience of hosting elite teams, comfortable but affordable accommodation, the ability to offer appropriate catering, good transport links, access to a good hospital, and good sports science facilities.

 

Facilities that appear in the Guide will now market their facilities directly to NOCs and NPCs.  There will be workshops organised to give guidance on this. 

 

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For further press information contact:

 

Rachel Mealing 07918 673416 or Agatha Chapman-Poole07717 538878

 

Note to Editors

 

The list of regional facilities is attached with a region by region breakdown.  Facilities were invited to apply in July 2006.  The assessment process was carried out during 2007.  For further information please contact the London Organising Committee Press Office on 0203 2012 100.

 

The Northwest Steering Group for the 2012 Games is responsible for helping to ensure that the Northwest maximises the opportunities associated with the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  The Group includes the lead agencies, alongside representatives from each sub region.  The Group is chaired by Andy Worthington, who is Chair of the North Regional Sports Board and is the Northwest’s representative on the London 2012 Nations and Regions Group.

 

Sport England is a non-departmental public body and National Lottery distributor. We are committed to creating a world leading community sports development system and increasing participation in sport.  Sport England has been a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting playing fields since August 1996. We object to any application that is detrimental to sport, unless alternative provision of at least equivalent value is found elsewhere.