Sports working together to develop on-going sports hall
guidance to secure facilities' legacy
This guidance will help stakeholders to make a viable
sporting and business case for building or upgrading a sports
hall.
Sport England continues to work jointly with the national
governing bodies (NGBs) of badminton, basketball, cricket, netball
and volleyball to develop guidance to ensure sports hall
developments comply with up to date requirements of the NGBs.
The generic strategic planning aspects of Developing the Right
Sports Hall' will also apply to other hall user sports.
The group has devised a simple methodology for developing the
right sports hall that supports stakeholders to provide a clear
statement of the requirements for a facility based on sports
development needs underpinned by a clear business
justification.
The guidance encourages:
All new facility developments to be programme led, created in
partnership with NGBs, local sports clubs and schools.
The right questions to be asked regarding sports provision and
other stakeholder requirements in order that the right sustainable
facilities are developed in the right places for the right
reasons.
The use of standard hall sizes wherever possible to ensure that
as many other sports as possible can use the hall in years to come.
In the case of existing halls, an alternative methodology sets out
the principle reviews and decisions that need to be made to
establish if an existing hall is suitable for further
investment.
Background
The guidance has been developed to overcome the long standing
issue for NGBs of sports halls not being fit for purpose to
accommodate the space requirements of their sports. The revisions
incorporated in the guidance are the result of in-depth
consultation between NGBs and Sport England, and who will now
update their own guidance to reflect these.
Important revisions
A revision to the 4 court hall size, from 33 x 18m to 34.5 x
20m. Adopting the dimensions of the revised 4 court hall as the
minimum is important for both formal sports participation and
fostering the opportunities offered by sport clubs, NGBs and
leagues in the development of sports teams and competitive
fixtures. It will provide fit for purpose space allowing intra and
inter school competitions in an appropriate environment.
Programmes geared to delivering NGB compliant community
participation through to club competition can only be served by a
hall 34.5 x 20m or larger which enables the main indoor sports to
be played in an appropriate environment that complies with NGB
technical guidance and therefore safety standards.
A revision and simplification of the different levels of play
for the individual sports into four level of play categories;
- International
- Premier
- Club
- Community