Newport International Sports Village facts for kids
The Newport International Sports Village is a huge sports area in Newport, South Wales. It's in a part of the city called Lliswerry. Many people in Newport call it Spytty Park. This name comes from the old fields it was built on, which were called Spytty Fields.
This amazing place has lots of different sports facilities. You can find a football training center, a stadium for athletics and football, and a special track for cycling called a velodrome. There's also a tennis center, a swimming pool, and pitches for cricket. The Tennis Centre is super versatile, offering space for many different games.
The Velodrome is very important! The Great Britain track cycling team used it to get ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics. They also trained here for the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. It was their special training base before these big events.
Contents
Explore the Sports Facilities
Wales National Velodrome
The Wales National Velodrome is a special indoor track for cycling. It's one of the best places in the UK for cyclists to train and race.
Newport Stadium
Newport Stadium is the main place for athletics in Newport. It's also a football stadium that used to be the home of Newport County A.F.C.. Now, teams like Llanwern A.F.C. and Newport Harriers Athletic Club use it. Newport City Council owns and manages the stadium.
South East Wales Regional Swimming Pool
This swimming pool was built to replace an older pool in Maindee. It's a modern pool, 25 meters long, with 8 lanes for swimming races. It even has a floor that can move up and down! There's also a smaller training pool next to the main one. Over 500 people can sit and watch events in the main pool.
Newport Tennis Centre
The Tennis Centre is one of the first buildings at the Sports Village. When the swimming pool was built, it was added right next to the Tennis Centre. This center is a fantastic place for many sports. You can play tennis (indoors and outdoors), 5-a-side football, basketball, hockey, netball, table tennis, badminton, and squash. It even has special nets for cricket practice inside one of its halls.
Cricket Pitches
The Sports Village has two cricket pitches. Newport Cricket Club has played their home games here since 1990. A building called a pavilion stands between the two pitches. It has a small seating area where you can watch one of the games. Cricket nets were put in behind the artificial turf in 2003-04 for summer practice. There are also cricket nets inside the Tennis Centre for winter training.
In May 2019, Glamorgan County Cricket Club played a big match here. It was a County Championship game against Gloucestershire. This was the first time Newport had hosted such a match since 1965! Before the 1990s, county cricket was played at Rodney Parade.
Past Facilities
Newport City Skate Park
A concrete skate park opened here in October 2008. It cost over £200,000 to build! It was designed with ideas from local skateboarders and the Newport Youth Council. This made sure it was good for both beginners and experienced skaters. In 2012, the skate park was moved. It went to Tredegar Park on the other side of the city. This move happened so that a new Football Development Centre could be built at the Sports Village.
