It was 72 acres of muddy football pitches, now it's a world-class facility catering for 15 different sports. | "How can you not be inspired to take part in sport when you have such an array of facilities on one site." | | David Lanfear, acting Regional Director, Sport England |
In just two years, the Sundorne Recreation Ground has become the Shrewsbury Sports Village and today saw its official opening by the Mayor of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council with chief guest Sir Trevor Brooking CBE. Football plays a big part in the make up of the village with eight senior pitches,
four junior pitches and four mini pitches, but other sports that will find a home there include netball, basketball, badminton, squash and indoor bowls. There's an illuminated youth area for BMX and skateboarding along with a multi-sport court. Cyclists have a 1 km tarmac track for either racing or training, complete with lighting and a storage area for bikes.
There are the usual indoor facilities that you would expect to see in a sports centre - the sports hall is big enough for eight badminton courts, two netball courts, two basketball courts two volleyball courts and short mat bowl.
 | | Climbing wall at Shrewsbury Sports Village |
but the most eye catching feature must be the indoor climbing wall. Before the Sports Village, climbers would have had to go to Birmingham for anything comparable - until that one closed. It may seem a bit early to be talking about the 2012 Olympics, but perhaps Shrewsbury Sports Village could be providing us with home-grown talent to pick up a few medals in London.
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