About The Zone

[2008] MINISTER FOR SPORT OPENS 'THE ZONE'

7 Jan 2008

The Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe was in Huddersfield on Friday evening to open The Zone, the new indoor leisure centre on St Andrew's Road, just across the river from the Galpharm Stadium.

He said: “I am very impressed with the community involvement by both clubs, Huddersfield Town and the Giants. It is a quality facility which makes sports fun and I am sure it will attract a lot of attention both in the local area and nationally; it is certainly one of the leading developments I have seen.”

Mayor Jean Calvert, Council Leader Robert Light and Deputy Council Leader Jim Dodds also attended the ribbon-cutting, along with stars from Huddersfield Town and the Huddersfield Giants.

The Zone has close links to both clubs and is the premier place in Kirklees and the surrounding area for indoor sport and children’s activities. Its ambitious aim is to get the local community active, with particular focus on encouraging children to adopt healthier lifestyles, get active and into sport.

The Zone has everything to help deliver this aim. It is split into five different sub-Zones; the Dance Zone, the Learning Zone, the Gym Zone, the Sports Zone - which boasts two of the largest third-generation indoor pitches in Yorkshire and the Kids Zone - which has the largest children’s play structure in the region. The individual zones are available for hire and for kids and adult parties which also offer fun, but nutritionally balanced meals.

Chairman of the Sporting Pride Community Trust, Roger Armitage, said: “We are delighted to be able to open this facility for the local community. We are looking to encourage children in particular and adults to adopt healthier lifestyles through sport. The community schemes of both professional sports clubs will see almost 60,000 children during 2008 and the Study Support Centre Learning Zone will see 450. The Gym Zone has a state-of-the-art youth gym supplied by specialists SHOKK which is a unique initiative in Huddersfield which we expect to be very popular.”

Sporting Pride Community Trust Manager, Paul France, said: “We anticipate The Zone being a high profile sports facility, so it was only fitting that we should have a high profile sports dignitary to open it. We hope Mr Sutcliffe will uphold this facility as a beacon nationally and highlight the outstanding developments that are taking place in Huddersfield.”

The Zone will be open to the public from Friday 11 January 2008.