Thank you for your enquiry into pre-games training camps at the University of Hertfordshire Sports Village. We hope you find everything you need in the information below.
Olympic sports and disciplines at this camp
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Fencing
- Judo
- Wrestling
Paralympic sports and disciplines at this camp
- Goalball
- Paralympic Judo
- Paralympic Volleyball (sitting)
- Wheelchair Basketball
- Wheelchair Fencing
- Wheelchair Rugby
Contact information
Mr Nick Brooking, Director of Sport
T: +44 (0)1707 281190
F: +44 (0)1707 284460
Hertfordshire Sports Village
University of Hertfordshire
DE HAVILLAND CAMPUS
HATFIELD BUSINESS PARK
Hatfield, AL10 9EU, England
Training Camp Description
Hertfordshire Sports Village is a large, clean and modern sports facility specifically designed to meet the needs of serious athletes as well as use by the University and its broader community.
In addition to the high-quality sports hall facilities identified as suitable for Olympic and Paralympic training in Badminton, Basketball, Fencing, Wrestling and Judo, the facility offers a 25m, eight-lane pool with a moveable floor, a 120 station health and fitness area with specialist free weights, two squash courts, exercise studio, 400m² climbing wall, a sports injury clinic and treatment areas, a comfortable cafe, meeting and conference rooms. Outdoors are natural and artificial grass sports pitches.
Top athletes from a variety of sports are regularly welcomed at the facility as it forms part of the English Institute of Sport facility network with expertise in strength and conditioning, physiotherapy and performance lifestyle based on site. London’s premier rugby union side Saracens have their playing and coaching staff based at the site and it is the main training venue for leading women’s football team Arsenal Ladies FC.
Although we currently do not have all the specialist line markings and equipment required for all the sports for which we were listed (for example, fencing pistes) we are happy to discuss how to make them available. We would also seek to source suitable adaptive transport through our own transport company or from other sources.
The Sports Village is situated on the University of Herfordshire’s de Havilland campus which was opened in 2003. It was designed to take account of the accessibility requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2004 and cost over £120m to build.
The University is recognised as a leading new style of University for its relationships with business. It receives students from all over the world with direct links in 93 different countries. It also has formal relationships and partnerships with educational organisations and businesses in many of these countries and understands how to welcome and manage the diverse cultures and needs that today’s international customers expect.
The campus has restaurant and social facilities, extensive lecture, teaching and seminar rooms and extensive individual en suite accommodation. There are 20 adapted rooms but these are on the ground floor and spread within different accommodation blocks and not grouped.
The University has its own conference services business (Conference Hertfordshire) that manages a range of activity from its regular non-residential conference activity to the fully integrated residential conference service that operates in University vacation times.
Located close to London
The venue is located in the south of the green county of Hertfordshire which is just to the north of London. It is only 25 minutes by train to Kings Cross / St Pancras railway station, which is itself just 7 minutes from the Olympic Village.
London Luton airport is 32km away with London Stansted (64km) and Heathrow (51km) also nearby.
Hosting experience
The Sports Village has hosted:
Basketball
- International: training venue for Great Britain Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball training, pre-Athens 2004
- National: British Basketball League National League home venue for Division 1 side
Fencing
- Regional, County: invitation tournaments and university fixtures
Volleyball
- Able-bodied matches and tournaments hosted regularly
Judo
- National gradings martial arts
Badminton
- International: England vs Germany vs Holland
- National: regular senior and age group competitions for Badminton England events
- Regional, County: regular venue for inter-county and premier league events
Other hosting experience
- The venue is used regularly for international and national level Netball events
- National-level short-course swimming; British and European multi-disability records have been set in the pool
- International age-group elite football training camps
