The Edge is investing in a multi-million pound plan to become ‘the number one provider of student sport experience’ in the UK.
The Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity will see an estimated £15 million development on new facilities which will create ‘the biggest and best outdoor facility in the country’.
If approved, the University would invest in numerous developments to promote physical activity at all levels across several sports.
Proposals include the installation of a closed-looped, outdoor cycling track stretching between one to three kilometres in length and ‘top-of-the-range’ synthetic pitches for football and rugby at Bodington.
A new tennis centre is also due to open, comprising of four to six indoor courts, as well as cricket lanes from recreational and competitive use, and a refurbishment of players’ changing rooms and dining facilities at Weetwood and Bodington pavilions.
Speaking to The Gryphon, Head of Sport and Physical Activity, Rob Wadsworth explained, ‘A number of existing gaps in our current sports delivery have become apparent. This strategy aims to respond to these gaps’.
The University has also secured a deal to allow a park-and-ride facility for the Leeds super-tram scheme to be built on Bodington’s grass terrain in exchange for the construction of four, 3G synthetic pitches, which can be used in all weather conditions.
Mr Wadsworth said, ‘This will provide a much better experience for our students. There will be a lot more availability for clubs to train. It will probably make us the biggest and the best outdoor sport facility in the country’.
The project responds to increasing demand from students wishing to take part in sport, as well as improving ‘inadequate’ facilities and modernising to meet students’ expectations.
The Gryphon understands an idea has been discussed which could see The Edge gym expand into the nearby Conference Auditorium, although this has yet to be confirmed.
Projects have been approved by the University, although talks are now underway with organisations such as British Cycling and Lawn Tennis Association to secure funding. Planning permission must also be approved by the Council.
The plans complement the opening of a dedicated Sports Office in the Union as part of the University’s commitment to being ‘number one for sport and physical activity’.
A second-year History and Italian student told this paper, ‘I think the fact the university has decided to spend more money on an already outstanding portfolio of sports activities shows how much they care about the well-being of students. It will allow more people to exercise and get a great work-out in’.
A French and German student said, ‘It seems a lot of money to spend when we already have first-class sport facilities’.
The Edge hopes to deliver the strategy within the next five years, although Mr Wadsworth stressed the importance of finance, adding, ‘It depends on the funding. If we can find the funding, we’re sorted’.
Previous investments by the University include the opening of a new boat house and a £1.2m refurbishment of The Edge this summer.
Charlotte Mason