An upgrade for our facilities
We are now a few months into having our brand new 3G pitch, and what a success it has been! In April, Swansea Bay Sports Park hosted the biggest Varsity in the UK, with nearly 10,000 students and staff from across Swansea and Cardiff University joining us at our facilities, and it was incredible to see our brand-new pitch in action, with teams unleashing their potential out on the field.
The new synthetic turf 3G pitch is providing our sports teams with a safer and more sustainable playing ground, fit for a range of different sports.
After many months of planning, work on the 3G project finally began Monday 4th September 2023.
The contractors worked tirelessly through the wet winter months to deliver the project, and whilst they remained on target for the majority of the build, the initial completion date of February 6th slipped towards the end as the relentless poor weather took its toll. However, the pitch was completed Friday 5th April and is now up and running with bookings underway.
The pitch is a full size, fully compliant World Rugby and FIFA Quality facility that will allow us to host Rugby fixtures up to and including BUCS Super Rugby, and all BUCS football fixtures as well as local league and Youth team Welsh League matches. The pitch will also accommodate American Football, Rugby League, Lacrosse, and Ultimate Frisbee, amongst other sports.
The facility is fully floodlit, allowing us to host evening BUCS and local league fixtures, as well as training throughout the winter. To put this into context, where previously activities were limited to around 10-15 hours per week on the grass pitch, weather permitting, this limit will now more than double, with only extreme weather conditions preventing bookings going ahead.
In terms of what this means for student sport, the new pitch will hopefully facilitate the HP teams returning to train at Sketty Lane with the Shed in close proximity for combined pitch and S&C sessions; it will provide far more training time (and better lighting!) for our BUCS teams and will allow us to host more fixtures on a Wednesday by playing games back-to-back; and we hope it will see the various Intramural Leagues really take off.
We fully expect the new pitch to transform the offering and provision for those Sport Swansea clubs benefitting from access, leading to an improved experience for all, whilst also providing the Sport Swansea teams the best possible opportunity to excel.
Swansea Bay Sports Park is the home of Swansea University’s sporting facilities and provides our athletes and clubs with a playing environment fit for sporting success. Learn more about our sports facilities and discover the incredible sport and activities that take place, including a 400m athletics track, our multi-purpose sports halls and our own 50m, 8 lane swimming pool.