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Planning approved for elite sports facilities extension
03/11/2020
A planning application submitted by the University of Wolverhampton to extend specialist sports facilities to support Olympic and Paralympic athletes has been given the green light.
As part of a new partnership agreement between the University and the British Judo Association, a planning application to extend the Centre of Excellence was recently submitted and plans have now been approved to introduce more specialist facilities to support the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who are based in the West Midlands.
The new development will include dedicated physiotherapy facilities providing world class science and medical support to athletes as part of the British Judo Association’s partnership with the English Institute of Sport.
The planning application followed the extension of the long-term partnership between the University of Wolverhampton and the British Judo Association, further developing the decade-long collaboration until 2032.
The British Judo Association’s Centre of Excellence is based at the University’s Walsall Campus, and sits alongside the University’s sports education and research facilities that support the sports degrees on offer.
The new 12-year agreement ensures the Centre of Excellence will remain on the Walsall Campus for the next three Olympic cycles, preparing athletes for Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and beyond. The next focus for the centre will be the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the partnership provides further endorsement for the Walsall Campus as a place of sporting excellence for elite athletes.
Dr Richard Medcalf, Director of the Institute of Human Sciences at the University, said: “The University is very proud of its partnership with the British Judo Association and we’re delighted that our planning application has been approved to further improve our world-class facilities at Walsall Campus.
“We have been home to the British Judo Association’s elite programme for more than five years now, and last year supported their hosting of the Commonwealth Judo Championships on our campus. We are delighted that they have chosen to commit to the University for such an extended period of time and look forward to collaborating with them even more in future.”
Andrew Scoular, CEO of British Judo and Board Member of the British Olympic Association (BOA), said: “We are delighted to have agreed a new 12 year lease with the University to ensure it will remain the home to our world class Judo programme for the next three Olympic and Paralympic Cycles.
"In addition to this, all of us at the British Judo Association are extremely excited and supportive of the potential extension to the Olympic Judo Centre at the Centre of Excellence on the Walsall Campus.
"This extension would make a significant impact both in the lead up to the 2021, the Paris 2024 Olympics and beyond.”
The extension of the partnership with British Judo follows the recently announced partnership with Sandwell Council that will enable students to study and train at their new £73m Aquatics Centre, and the £1m refurbishment of the University’s sports laboratories that now include a state of the art climate chamber.
Anyone interested in studying Sport in the Institute of Human Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton should register for the next Virtual Open Day on Saturday 14th November 2020.
ENDS
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