Southampton Sports Centre why we need a club house

Southampton has a long history of being a hot bed of athletic talent and in the past has been represented by some great athletes including Kriss Akabusi, Christine Benning, Roger Black, Iwan Thomas, and Todd Bennett and many more.Our club has 700 members which represents the largest club based at the Southampton Sports Centre but it is generally recognised that the track side facilities have not kept pace with modern requirements.Facilities are absolutely vital to sustain the current level of activity that Southampton Athletic Club currently enjoys.This applies not only to specific athletic track and field facilities but also to the social amenities,changing rooms and car parking which a club such as ours requires to sustain thrive and grow.Our club have some of the finest young athletes in the country and our teams compete in some of the most competitive leagues in the country. We wish to fully support the overall plan and work with the Friends of Southampton Sports Centre to bring the facilities up to a modern standard and by the very nature of our sport it is essential that we have a club house which is track side for the following reasons: From April to October our junior academy for 8 to 13 year olds use the track for a multi event development programme, introducing children to the fundamental skills of athletics and developing the technical skills involved in running,jumping and throwing. These skills are readily transferable between many sports. We have up to 150 children attending each week,rain or shine and we do need an area for them to congregate in the dry prior to their activities. It is embarrassing to say the least when we have to tell children to go to the toilet before training due to child safety issues.This is totally unsatisfactory. We do compete in many different leagues including British Men's league Division 1,UK Women's league Division 1,Southern Athletic league,Wessex league and UK Youth Development league. Each of these leagues demand that we host competitions.There is a requirement therefor to have up to 40 officials and we import photo finish equipment and First Aid and of coarse offer a result service,all of which requires a base to operate from.Our existing portable cabins are not fit for purpose. We need to provide essential drinks and at present we provide this service from our portable cabin using water from a nearby stand pipe.Its almost medieval We desperately need changing rooms and shower facilities to bring the facilities up to the normal specification you would expect from a club of our size. Athletes and coaches are present on most days of the week Winter and Summer in all weather conditions, they deserve better. Our neighbouring club at Winchester although a smaller club in numbers and competes at a lower standard, have far superior facilities and there is always a danger of loosing athletes and coaches due to the shocking conditions. So why has this situation gone on for so long,The reasons are complicated and a tale of neglect and lack of capital expenditure over the years.We have drawn up a plan to modernise the existing building at the top end of the track known as Block 2,building another story on top to provide additional accommodation.This would be phase 1 with phase 2 being a new stand. However at the moment we are in dispute with Capita who conducted a feasibility study as to the viability of this option.The alternative would be a club house where the existing portable cabins are located. Either way Sport England who I believe are sympathetic to our plight would not provide all of the funding and we would be expected to raise a substantial sum ourselves.Hence our need for fund raising. We already have some funds put by for the club house from various fund raising events over the years mainly by Team Solent and I will be contacting members shortly with some ideas to increase our efforts. I will try and keep everyone informed.  Richie (Chairman)