South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) athletes have had a first look at their new, state-of-the-art Mile End facility, ahead of operations commencing this week.
The nearly $90m SASI build has been designed to give South Australian and SA-based athletes a competitive edge, featuring nation-leading spaces.
The facility has a strength and conditioning gym, fit with five lane synthetic turf testing space (three lanes are 60 metres and two lanes are 40 metres) and anti-gravity treadmill.
There is also an environmental chamber for athlete testing under a range of temperature, hypoxic and humidity conditions.
Athletes can access a full sized indoor sprung timber court and half court movement studio, designed for instant performance analysis under individual and team modes.
There is an ergometer training space, home to the SASI rowing and canoe/kayak programs.
The state of the art centre has a physiology laboratory and athlete health rooms, fit out for our allied health partners, as well as an athlete recovery centre, complete with athlete nutrition zone.
There are also biomechanics and exercise physiology laboratories fit for our allied health partners and for students to learn about the role that forces play in movement and physiological responses to exercise and training.
The State Government has invested $68m towards the development, which provides a world-class sport, research and education hub to high performance athletes, coaches and university students.
Project partner UniSA has contributed a further $20m for capital costs, which will see the UniSA Sports Science Hub open on the second floor in the coming months, with high performance sport science laboratories and teaching spaces for students undertaking a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
The building will also be home to the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing, which was instrumental in the design and building process, working alongside COX Architecture and Hansen Yuncken.
The new facility launches as one of the best high-performance sports precincts in the country.
Its Mile End location sits right on the doorstep of Adelaide’s CBD, and is co-located with the pioneering National Centre for Sports Aerodynamics, upgraded SA Athletics Stadium, and the SA Netball Centre.
The Mile End sports precinct is set to be a drawcard for international sports teams with world-renowned organisations having already expressed their interest in basing themselves in Adelaide to use these amenities.
Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing Katrine Hildyard was full of praise for the new facility.
“The new SASI and its state-of-the-art features will be a key site in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Games and beyond, supporting the work of our South Australian athletes and coaches and also attracting national and international teams to Adelaide,” she said.
“This almost $90m development is a key part of the brilliant sporting precinct we are developing at Mile End with our National Centre for Sports Aerodynamics, upgraded Athletics Stadium and soon to be redeveloped SA Netball Centre all neighbours.”
SASI Director Keren Faulkner echoed the Minister’s comments.
“SASI’s new home in Mile End is something I am extremely proud of where we will help athletes develop into the best version of themselves, both in their sporting pursuits and in their everyday lives,” Ms Faulkner said.
“It will also enable our coaches and staff to power greatness in their work where we have always had a world class team and now, we have the facilities to match this – the sky’s the limit in terms of what we can achieve.
“Our partnership with UniSA will also give us great opportunities to promote the way research, science and academia can work together with sport.”
UniSA Professor Jon Buckley, who is the Executive Dean: UniSA Allied Health and Human Performance Academic Unit, welcomed the partnership.
“The collaboration draws upon the expertise of SASI and UniSA to dually advance the preparation of high-performance athletes and educate the elite sports workforce of the futuret,” he said.
