Local Youth Team And Wrexham AFC Legend Celebrate Grand Opening of New 3G Pitch
A Wrexham sporting legend and the football stars of the future have helped celebrate the opening of a state-of-the-art 3G pitch at a local leisure centre.
The new 3G all-weather sports pitch at Chirk Leisure & Activity Centre was opened by Steve Watkin, formerly of Wrexham AFC and Swansea FC – who was on site to have a kick around with members of the Chirk Youth Football Club at the pitch’s grand unveiling earlier this month.
Chirk Leisure & Activity Centre was the first of three centres operated by Freedom Leisure to receive an upgrade, with work to pitches at Queensway Stadium and Morgan Llwyd Leisure and Activity Centre in the pipeline to be upgraded to 3G later this year.
The pitch upgrades have been undertaken with help from funding from WCBC and a Welsh Government Sports Facilities Capital Loan. These improvements will help local communities to be more active more often.
Minister for Social Services and Public Health, Rebecca Evans, explained that ‘top class facilities like this mean that people of all ages can enjoy the benefits of sport and physical activity all year round’.
She added: “Helping Wales become a healthy and active nation is a Welsh Government priority which is why I am pleased that some of the funding made available to Wrexham Council via our Sports Facilities Capital Loan Scheme has enabled improvements to the pitch in Chirk and pitches at other sites in the area.”
Andy Harris, Freedom Leisure Area Manager, said: “We are delighted that Wrexham County Borough Council bid for the funding from the Welsh Government and that they then agreed to invest some of the money they received into the all-weather pitch upgrades at Chirk Leisure & Activity Centre and the other two centres. Aside from upgrading the playing surfaces from sand to 3G; new goals, line markings, equipment and fencing have also been added.
“We are extremely grateful that Steve and the local youth team have joined us to celebrate the completed installation of the new 3G facility. Steve agrees that facilities like this are important for the community’s young footballers and pitch sports players.”
The benefits to the centre of a 3G pitch include being low maintenance and allowing the centre to provide consistent high quality playing surfaces – even in wet weather.
For players, a 3G pitch closely replicates the playing conditions of natural turf with the bounce and run of the ball being the same as on a grass surface, meaning that technical work at clubs and academies can be done with the quality required at a pro level.
Last week Wrexham.com reported that both Waterworld and Chirk Leisure & Activity Centre were to undergo major refurbishment works costing £1.5 million, which will be used to upgrade the gyms at the two sites.
Work at Waterworld will begin on April 10th and once complete will see an improvements made to the reception, café, ground floor changing rooms and the addition of a cycling studio
For more details or to enquire about bookings call the centre on 01691 778666 or visit the Freedom Leisure website to register interest.
Picture credit – Sportsandsafetysurfaces.co.uk
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