Six months on from the closure of the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Island’s national stadium, the Bowl continues to be well used and serve as a permanent legacy for the Island’s sporting community. The Bowl is now part of the NSC estate and is proving to be an asset not just for the NSC but the Island community as a whole.
Hon Tim Crookall MHK, Minister for Community, Culture and Leisure said:
‘I am delighted with how well used the Bowl has been. From the Manx Youth Games in May 2011 and CYG Opening Ceremony in September right through to local football matches and school PE classes, the Bowl is not just a fantastic legacy, it is a state of the art sports facility that is enjoyed by a huge spectrum of local sports people.’
Colin McMullin, NSC Assistant Manager said:
‘The Bowl has had fantastic usage since we fully opened in October. We are currently averaging around 5000 users a month and with the recent county cups and IOMFA finals have averaged approximately 1000 spectators a month through the gates.’
The pitch is a 65mm rubber infill 3G carpet system which is the same as currently used at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground. It is approved by the RFU and FIFA for rugby and football.
The Minister added:
‘It was always intended that the Bowl would be used primarily by the Island’s football community, but the scale of take up has been extremely impressive. Perhaps more importantly in terms of legacy is that the Isle of Man FA run all of their junior development centre groups at the Bowl.’
Nine clubs use the Bowl for their winter training schedule and St Mary’s have taken up permanent residence training and playing their league matches at the stadium. There are four major finals already scheduled to take place at the Bowl with more possible in the near future.
It’s not just the Island’s footballing community that are enjoying the state of the art facility. Ballakermeen High School currently run 12 PE lessons a week, Douglas Rugby club hold their winter training sessions and the Sports Development Unit use the Bowl for their all day schemes.
Finally, the Minister added:
‘The outdoor and Bowl team do a tremendous job in managing the many facilities within the NSC complex and the uptake on the Bowl has added a new dimension to that, which they have all embraced whole heartedly to help provide the stadium for the benefit of the sports people of the Isle of Man.’
For more information about how to book any of the outdoor facilities at the National Sports Centre, call +44 1624 688593.
