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ROCKLIFFE ON OLYMPICS LIST
By Middlesbrough FC
Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground has been named in an elite list of potential training camps for teams and individuals competing in the 2012 Olympics.
Based in Hurworth near Darlington, Rockliffe features in a pre-games training camp guide for London 2012 following an assessment of its facilities by the games' organising committee.
Boro Chief Executive Keith Lamb welcomed the news and hailed it as a major coup for Middlesbrough Football Club.
“We are naturally delighted that Rockliffe has been selected as a potential base for sportsmen and women preparing for an event as prestigious as the Olympic Games, “ he said.
“Rockliffe Park is acknowledged across football as one of the best training venues in the UK, if not Europe, but this is a great accolade for the football club and the whole of the north-east.
“We will naturally do all we can to make Rockliffe as attractive a training venue as possible for those preparing for the 2012 Olympics.”
Lamb revealed that Boro’s training HQ has already been utilised by a wide range of athletes and sports stars.
He added: “Apart from being the daily training base for Middlesbrough players, the facilities at Rockliffe Park have also been utilised by the England football squad and many other professional football teams.
“Others to have made use of the facilities include rugby star Jonny Wilkinson, Grand National-winning jockey Graeme Lee and athletes such as Colin Jackson, Chris Tomlinson, Anthony Borsumato and Alison Curbishley.”
Wilkinson has made numerous visits with his Newcastle Falcons team-mates, while he also utilised Rockliffe’s impressive indoors sports hall to practice his kicking in preparation for the 2003 World Cup, when his last-minute drop-kick clinched victory over Australia in the final.
Set deep in the heart of County Durham countryside, the land for Boro’s £7million training complex was purchased by MFC in 1997.
A state-of-the-art sports science department and gym, rehabilitation areas and massage rooms, spacious changing rooms, saunas, steam rooms and jacuzzis and a comfortable restaurant are just some of the assets to be found there.
Officially opened in October 1998, just ten months after work started, the 160-acre site also has numerous grass pitches as well as two outdoor synthetic surfaces for training in all conditions.
And when the winter months arrive the impressive sports hall offers a massive indoor playing area made from a revolutionary artificial surface called Fieldturf.
Work is progressing on a five-star luxury hotel and golf resort on the Rockliffe site, a development set to open in 2009 featuring Europe’s longest golf course.
The existing Rockliffe Hall – built in 1863 and formerly home to banker Alfred Backhouse and Lord Southampton – is being transformed into a 63-bedroom hotel and relaxation spa.
Over 600 facilities from across the UK appear in the training camp guide, to be published at the Beijing Games. It contains high quality elite sporting facilities right across the UK which will give teams and individual athletes a great selection of venues from which they can choose to prepare for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Facilities in the Guide range from well known major sporting hubs,
universities and independent schools, community facilities, and sport
specific facilities.
As well as having the obvious advantage of having similar climactic conditions to Games time conditions, other technical criteria were examined such as: the ability to offer high quality sports training facilities, experience of hosting elite teams, comfortable but affordable accommodation, the ability to offer appropriate catering, good transport links, access to a good hospital and good sports science facilities.
The Guide will be circulated to all National Olympic Committees. These organisations will then decide where they base themselves or where to send individual athletes to prepare and acclimatise for London 2012.
Extensive details of the facilities will appear on a dedicated website
showcasing the quality and variety of options throughout the UK. The national tourism agency, Visit Britain, is developing this new website with LOCOG and will bring its experience of marketing destinations and tourism products to international audiences.
Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee, commented: "We said that we wanted the London Games to be for athletes and the facilities listed in this Guide will really help overseas athletes prepare well.
“It also provides a great opportunity for towns throughout the UK to get involved in our plans. The process we have been through shows a great spread of high quality facilities throughout the UK that can be used by elite level athletes.”
Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister, said: "The strength and diversity of our sporting infrastructure is demonstrated by so many high quality facilities having met the strict criteria to be included in this Guide.
“This is a real opportunity for communities across the UK to capitalise on the benefits that hosting 2012 offers. There are no guarantees of success just by making it into the Guide. There will be fierce competition to host foreign teams and individuals and now it is for every nation and region, every venue, to sell itself internationally."
Tanni Grey-Thompson, eleven times Paralympic Gold medallist, said:
"Congratulations to all those that have made it into the Guide. An athlete's preparations for the Games in terms of acclimatisation are very important so it is great that there will be a wide choice of venues that countries can choose from to get ready for London 2012 - from all over the UK.
"The facilities here look very impressive and could attract a wide selection of teams, bringing a boost to the local economy and also a chance to set up sporting and cultural exchanges with the visiting teams."
Stacy Hall, director of communications & tourism at One NorthEast, said: "It is expected that the London 2012 Games has the potential to provide a multi-million pound boost to business in the North East, as potentially one in three of the region's companies has the skills and services to benefit from London 2012 contracts.
"The Training Camps are a great way to encourage anyone in the North East to get fit and take part in sport or physical activity. It is also set to raise aspirations among the region's sportsmen and sportswomen and pave the way for our future Olympians and Paralympians."
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