$30m government announcement for new sports science facility in Upper Hutt

A new sports science facility has been given $30m in government funding to get it off the ground. Grant Robertson, the Minister of Finance, announced that the NZCIS (New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport) would be receiving the government grant.

Robertson stated that the hub is designed to be a world-class contender where it will offer a range of different services for different sports. The facility is not only intended for elite and professional sports but also for academies and local sporting groups.

The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport is a component of a wider project involving the Central Institute of Technology in Trentham. In addition, the grounds will allows house a high performance sports hub, a training facility for government agencies (in the likes of the Defence Force and Corrections), and an incubator for high tech industries.

The 17 hectare site is planning on including a 1,000 square metre gym, four outdoor sports fields, a 70 by 50 metre indoor sports field, several pools, an altitude studio and cryotherapy facilities. As the hub is also intended to collect data for sports science, there will be 3 on-site analysis rooms where athletes and their teams will be able to gather and evaluate performance data.

It is expected that the NZCIS will create over 240 jobs for the residents of Upper Hutt. In light of the announcement Baseball NZ, Wellington Phoenix and Wellington Rugby have already signed up for the facilities at the soon to be hub.

The funding for the NZCIS is part of a $3 bilion COVID-19 Recovery and Response Fund for the infrastructure sector. Grant Robertson announced this fund on the 1^st of July where recently Hutt Valley received $39m from the fund and Upper Hutt’s Maidstone Sportshub received $12m.