Olympic Fame in Furness

10th March 2008

FURNESS has been handed a golden opportunity to put itself on the global sporting stage with the announcement that Hoops Basketball Centre of Excellence, based at Thorncliffe School, is to be included in an official guide to training venues for visiting Olympic teams.

Kendal Judo Club and Sheepmount Athletics Stadium in Carlisle are also to be included in the London 2012 pre-Games Training Camp Guide. It means there is an outside chance that America’s National Basketball Association “Dream Team”, 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and world open judo champion Dennis Van Der Geest could be based in Cumbria ahead of the greatest sporting event in the world. The list of the county’s Olympic training venues was announced on Tuesday at Kendal Judo Club. Ian France, manager of Hoops, said: “It’s brilliant news. I think everyone will be over the moon. “We knew we were one of half a dozen basketball centres in the country with the full size court and spectator facilities. In terms of basketball, this is one of the best centres in the country. This could be really big for the town.”

More than 600 elite facilities across the UK are to be included in the guide, which is set to be presented to all teams at the Beijing Games in August. Facilities were invited to apply for inclusion in the guide in July 2006 and were assessed last year. Announcing the news, Rob Young, North West coordinator for the 2012 Games, said: “The aspiration is that we host as many teams as possible. The facilities are Olympic standard but they are also here for members of the community to use. The next step is to work with the facilities and local authorities to attract the teams.” Inclusion in the guide doesn’t attract any further funding to the facilities themselves, but there is a grant of up to £25,000 available to encourage Olympic teams to use British training camps. While teams tend to arrive at training camps two weeks before an Olympic Games begins, some countries may start to use training camps two or even three years beforehand. Kendal Judo Club, which attracts athletes from across Furness and the SouthLakes, already hosts visiting teams for competitions and is used as a training venue for the British team. Its specially-designed Sport England funded dojo opened two years ago. The club, which was founded 50 years ago, is set to host the English Senior Open Championship this weekend. Chief coach Mike Liptrot said: “When the founder members started the club they never would have imagined that it would be involved in something like this. We have ended up with a tremendous facility. “It’s a terrific opportunity for us. It’s only the first stage, we must get the teams here. It will happen, I make that promise now.”

Seventy three sporting venues from the North West will appear in the guide altogether, including Aintree Racecourse, Manchester City and United Football Clubs and even the National Sports Centre on the Isle of Man. The guides will be given to all National Olympic Committees and National Paralympic Committees who will decide where to base themselves and where to send their athletes. Details of the facilities will also appear on a website co-developed by national tourist agency Visit Britain. The London 2012 Organising Committee will be holding workshops for facilities listed in the guide to help them market themselves to Olympic teams. Local authorities will also be enlisted to market their area to visiting teams. Peter Thornton, South Lakeland District Council’s Communities and Wellbeing portfolio holder, said: “I can imagine a situation in four years’ time when we have a team here. The team will come with a lot of people, and it’s going to make a splash in our town. “It will also draw a lot of people into judo and I hope we will have some local team members at the 2012 Olympics.”