HOUSE OF SPORT 3 OPENS ITS DOORS
Community
18th January
Another momentous step in the evolution of a modern day institution...
City Council Leader, Councillor Phil Bale, opened the facility - whilst representatives from Cardiff City Football Club, Cardiff City Foundation, Cardiff & Vale College, The Premier League Foundation and several of the House of Sport’s partners in sport and education were present.
Peter Drew of Tennis Wales, Scott Reid of the Tennis Foundation, Sena Tengay of Diamond Tennis, Ceri Richards of Sport Wales and local councillors for Canton and Grangetown were notable attendees.
HOS3 is a multi-purpose facility, with top of the range courts for tennis and netball as well as a roller rink - the first of its kind in Wales. The latest phase supplements the extensive facilities offered in House of Sport 1 and 2, to help meet the local community’s sporting needs.
Speaking at the launch, Cardiff City FC Director and House of Sport Founder, Steve Borley, explained the advancements that have been made with the latest state of the art development.
“This facility is the next piece in the jigsaw for our vision of creating a unique sports education campus in Leckwith through public and private investment,” said Steve.
“A combination of funding from the Council, the Tennis Foundation and Sport Wales - supported by Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Berjaya Assets and my own company, CMB Engineering - made this possible.
“Having learnt lessons from phase one, we designed the new facility to provide year-round sport - with the primary sport this time being tennis. Cardiff Council had approached us to build an alternative to the National Tennis Centre into our expansion plans, based on the established success of House of Sport as a community sports hub.
"We also offer netball and roller sports in the new development, while we thought the surface would be ideal for wheelchair sports too - another key community element of HOS3.”
Steve also discussed plans for future development, so as to further foster the growth of sport in the local community. He continued: “We have already embarked on another partnership with Cardiff & Vale College and the Council, introducing a new full-size 3G pitch at Cardiff International Sports Stadium.
“There are plans to improve the facilities there too, with another artificial surface and an air dome allowing us to develop a full-size indoor facility ahead of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff.
“We have another acre and a half on the HOS site to develop too and, judging by previous experience, HOS4 won’t be long in the making as we look to further establish Cardiff as a city of sport.”
Cardiff City CEO and House of Sport Director, Ken Choo, added: "I'm delighted to see the opening of HOS3 today and would like to congratulate Steve, Joanna and all those involved in making it happen.
"This is an exciting time for the city of Cardiff and its surrounding areas in terms of the opportunities that are being created for the community. This is part of a long-term project and in line with Tan Sri Vincent Tan's vision for creating opportunities for all.
"I'd also like to pay special tribute to Councillor Phil Bale and Cardiff Council for allowing planning and, thus, the extension of HOS3 and our community driven ambitions."
Click below for highlights of the HOS3 launch...
