The Jordanstown Sports Village project will involve the creation of a two-storey extension to the existing high-performance Sports Centre to include: a gym, fitness suites, physio room, student sports clubhouse, teaching and event space, extended reception area, changing rooms, equipment stores and ancillary multipurpose rooms. The expanded indoor facilities will support the expansive outdoor pitch provision in Jordanstown to support the training needs of students, performance athletes and sports clubs.
The university is set to invest £10 million in these plans, which are subject to planning approval.
Professor Paul Bartholomew, Ulster University Vice-Chancellor commented: "Ulster University Jordanstown has a hard-earned reputation for being an all-encompassing hub for performance sport in Northern Ireland. It has played a supporting role in the sporting lives of Olympic and Commonwealth athletes, local sports clubs, schools and teams competing at an international level and harboured a fitness network for staff, students and the local community.
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"The plans launched today combine innovative technology with world class facilities to support our students, athletes, coaches, governing bodies, alumni and the local community to reach their sporting potential. From research backed sports education, elite performance support and host of local, national and international sports competitions, the improved Jordanstown Sports Village will become the cornerstone for involved, engaged and supported sports people."
The investment further strengthens the reputation of Ulster University as a high achieving sporting institution across the island of Ireland. Complementing the teaching facilities at the University's new Belfast campus, the Jordanstown Sports Village continues as the home of Sports Institute of Northern Ireland, the IFA EUFA Football Academy and the IFA Women and Girls Performance Centre and the Regional Centre of Excellence for Basketball Ireland, Cricket Ireland, Irish Boxing and others. It will further develop as an essential training base for hundreds of clubs and high-performance NI and Irish teams.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist and Masters student Kate O'Connor, who trains at the Jordanstown Sports Village, added: "The Jordanstown Sports Village has played a key role in my sports journey to date and I welcome the university's continued investment in new facilities. Although Heptathlon is a solo sport, the community at the Jordanstown Sports Village is united with a common goal and a common love for sport and the positive impact it has on the lives of students, staff and the wider community."
The Jordanstown Sports Village continues to support members of the local community through 55 group classes available each week alongside regular community events. Performance sports programmes also continue to have access to the strength and conditions spaces, acclimatisation chamber, indoor 3G, athletics areas and outdoor pitches.
The Jordanstown Sports Village also caters for students from the School of Sport, Nursing and Health Sciences and in the Belfast School of Architecture and Built Environment to supplement their teaching delivered in the nearby Belfast campus offering bespoke practical indoor spaces for nursing students and expansive outdoor pitches for sports students.
