Sports Facilities in North London
A comprehensive list of official training facilities was identified by London 2012, including a number of facilities in the North London sub-region.
North London, because of its proximity and diverse ethnicity, is ideally located to host many of the ancillary Olympic-sporting facilities, for example training, acclimatisation and pre-competition ‘holding’ facilities. The sub-region has already undertaken an audit of the sporting facilities that could, with some investment, be used for the Games. A facilities investment strategy for the sub-region, initially linked to the acclimatisation camps needs to be produced.
The sub-region is well placed to meet the criteria of visiting nations/teams especially smaller teams staying in the village, but facilities will need investment to bring them up to world class standard. Improved or extended facilities will also be needed as a result of the increased profile of sport and physical activity for all, resulting in increased demand. North London is under provided for compared to other sub-regions.
There is therefore a strong case for investment - investing in better facilities to help deliver the best Olympics ever, providing a long-term legacy for local people in an area of identified need. The education, training and employment opportunities linked to the growth in this sector needs to be carefully considered. Redressing current inequalities in participation rates across key target groups including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and lower income families will also be crucial to the creation of sustainable communities across North London.
Picketts Lock, Regional Athletics Centre (RAC)
The Lee Valley Athletics Centre (LVAC), which was officially opened on Tuesday 16 January 2007, is the newest training facility in the South of England. The facility is the largest indoor and outdoor athletics centre serving London and the South of England and houses the only indoor 200 metre track in the region. The indoor centre comprises a 130 metre sprint straight, permanent seating for 500 spectators and full indoor jumps and throws facilities. In addition, the Centre houses specialist areas for the delivery of sport science and medical support services by the English Institute of Sport.
Score Complex
Leyton, at the extreme south eastern of the sub-region, with some of the greatest levels of deprivation, is increasingly becoming an Olympic cluster of new and improved sports facilities that will be used as competition or training facilities in 2012. Much of the recent development of facilities in this area have been led by the voluntary sector most notably the Score Complex. This innovative partnership project operates sports based social inclusion and education programmes and its success could inform the legacy work that promises to ensure that local people are the ultimate beneficiaries of the Games.
White Hart Lane Community Sports
The centre (formerly known as New River) is located in Wood Green, Haringey, with a long standing commitment to sports development and sporting excellence. This is reinforced in Haringey’s draft Sports & Physical Activity Strategy, with a focus on partnership and investment. The site brings together an array of agencies, largely focused upon improving youth participation.
Middlesex University
The London Sport Institute was established in 2004 by Middlesex University. It lies within the School of Health and Social Sciences and has strong links with University College London. The Institute has been built on a range of highly successful and innovative undergraduate programmes. Onto this firm base, the Institute has developed high quality research, rapidly developing postgraduate programmes and enhanced opportunities for MPhil/PhD study. The Institute therefore has the full spectrum of academic and recreational activities in sport, exercise, and health. Middlesex University have been a key contributor to the establishment and development of North and East London Sports Network, both Chairing and hosting the network since its inception. It is envisaged that this commitment will strengthen with the emergence of the sub-regional partnership.
