New Sports Park Facilities Open

One of the main developments has involved the covering of the Sports Park’s six outdoor tennis / netball courts. The addition of the fabric tensile structure over the courts will provide ideal playing conditions in any weather conditions and allow the University to expand its tennis and netball programmes. The covering has made Exeter Tennis Centre one of the largest of its kind in the UK, now boasting four indoor, six covered and two outdoor tennis courts.

Phase one has also seen the University’s Olympic standard, water-based, hockey pitch resurfaced and a new 3g rubber crumb multi use games area (MUGA) installed.

The completion of phase one comes at the end of an incredibly successful year of Sport at the University of Exeter. A number of the University’s alumni and current students represented their countries at London 2012 with Sarah Thomas achieving a fantastic bronze medal with the Team GB women’s hockey side. The University also climbed to seventh in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) ranking for 2011/2012. The BUCS competition is run across 149 Higher Education institutions every year and over the past 4 years Exeter has steadily climbed the table, securing its position as one of the top ten sporting universities in the country.

Phil Attwell, Director of Sport commented, “We are absolutely delighted with the work that has been carried out over the summer. 2012 has been a great year for Sport at the University of Exeter and we have every intention of continuing this success. It’s a very exciting time. The University of Exeter boasts some of the best sports facilities in the UK and we must continue to develop in order to deliver the best possible sporting experience to our students and the wider community.”

There is still plenty to look forward as the development continues. A new eight team changing pavilion, next to the hockey pitch is set to be complete in December. The pavilion will ensure that all pitch users can change and shower in accommodation adjacent to the pitch, without having to share with other teams. Toilets will also be provided for users of the outdoor facilities whether they are walkers, spectators, or those using the running trail at the Sports Park. There will also be a video platform for filming matches on the main hockey pitch.

Work has also already begun on stage two of the development which includes the construction of a flagship 200 station gym. This work is set to double the size of the University’s current gym facilities. The gym building will also include a new reception area, complete with changing rooms, and two new fitness studios. One of these studios will be dedicated to static bike exercise classes, with high quality sound, visual enhancement and environment control. The studio will be powered by the energy created by the bikes, making it carbon neutral. Work on phase two is set to be completed by September 2013.

Regular photo updates on development progress will be available on our Facebook group UniversityofExeterSport.