High Performance Centre a huge success

Bay of Plenty Steamers using the excellent gym facilities at the Adams Centre at Blake Park. Photo / Supplied

The University of Waikato Adams Centre for High Performance will play a dominant role in the future of New Zealand sport.

So says the university's senior deputy vice-chancellor, professor Alister Jones, at the centre's first birthday celebrations.

"During the past year, the centre has hosted a variety of national and international sports teams as they prepare for major events such as the Olympics and the professional seasons. The reputation of the centre continues to grow," Jones said.

About 60 athletes train at the centre on a regular basis as members of Bay of Plenty Rugby, NZ rugby and Northern Districts Cricket, as well as an increasing number of athletes representing other sports.

Utilisation of the centre over its first 12 months has included teams and athletes representing Bay of Plenty Steamers, NZ Women's Sevens, All Blacks Sevens, St Kilda AFL football team, NZ Men's Black Sticks, NZ Women's Black Sticks, Steve Adams from Oklahoma City Thunder, Black Caps cricket, Northern Districts cricket, White Ferns cricket, Magic netball team, NZ Surf Lifesaving, and Chiefs rugby team.

New Zealand Rugby's general manager rugby Neil Sorensen said the centre has been a "fantastic base" for the All Blacks Sevens and NZ Women's Sevens teams who regularly train there.

"It's a world class facility which has improved the ability for our players to step up to the next level and perform on the international stage. The teams love the space because it has everything we need in one place. We are focusing more of our time at the centre and building our sevens base at the Mount," Sorensen said.

The Adams Centre manager Justine Brennan said the centre will be building on its first year of success stories. Things in store include attracting more national sporting organisations - either permanently based in Tauranga, or using the centre for training camps.

The benefits would extend to the general sporting community, she said.

There are plan to also enable more top, local athletes who are competing on the national stage to use the centre.

"By making our high-performance service available at a local level, the competitiveness of our Tauranga athletes will rise significantly on the national stage. This is a focus area for this year," Brennan said.

The centre provides both a training and research hub, with an eligibility criteria in place for it use. It is a leading provider of testing and research into sport science and human performance.

The centre is equipped with the very latest in sports science and research capability. It boasts the only environmental chamber in New Zealand capable of controlling heat, humidity and altitude. It also features the largest high performance gym in New Zealand in terms of floor space.

The creation of the high performance centre involved the transformation of the old, disused Mount Maunganui Cosmopolitan Club at Blake Park into a world-class training environment for athletes. This was a Bay Venues initiative, supported by Tauranga City Council.

The centre has resulted from a collaboration between the university, the Tauranga City Council, Bay Venues and the philanthropy of the Paul Adams' Bethlehem Charitable Trust.