Can anyone explain to me why the "National City of Sport" has played no part whatsoever in the Olympic trials? I've read reports that should London get the games in 2012 it would be such good news for Sheff. Well, would it really?

Manchester gave their stadium away after the Commonwealth games yet this weekend I watched in amazement the Olympic trials taking place, in Manchester, in another new stadium.!! I would like an explanation from whoever is in charge of events down at Don Valley as to how this could happen.

Sheffield with it's facilities should be THE renowned venue for sport but as always we are being overlooked and quite frankly being made a laughing stock. Could you honestly see any other city with our facilities let them go to ruin unused and unheard of?

gawth
The stadium in Manchester being used for the trials at the weekend was beside the Commonwealth Games stadium and was built at the same time, it was used as the practice area for the games and has since been used by Sale Harriers (I think) so all they have done is fitted a roof around it and got themselves a good arena. Last week I was in Gateshead for the English Schools Championships, this stadium is known the world over for athletics, yet is no better than Don Valley but is always in the news as it hosts one competition or another. Why ? simple because the athletics clubs in the north east get help from their local councils in getting publicity for "their" stadium. What do we get around here? nothing but lip service from the "oh yes we will help" brigade then nothing to back it up. Sheffield and District have some athletes that we should all be proud of, and this last weekend it was an honour to have been able to see some future champions in action, but no thanks to the local councils. Chesterfield for example don't even have an all weather track the club there have to put up with the old cinder running track, yet several of their members are England Internationals. The throwing cage over there is a joke it blows over when it gets windy, no wonder the young athletes go on to find other sports.

owdlad.

Ok so Manchester's 'practice' arena is a preferrd venue to Don Valley. Sheffield council should hang their heads in shame, it's a farce.

I agree and not just Sheffield council but all the surrounding councils as well. Maybe The Star would be interested, try contacting them, or do any other posters on this board have any ideas as to how this area can be pushed forward ?

The problem isn't just the council - for example the national institute of sport that we have a small amount of here was originally supposed to be all in Sheffield - however the people opperating it wanted it all in London - outcome - most of it is in London and the minimum amount possible has been sent up north to keep the funding. Basically the people who run these sort of things seem to only be interested in sticking them in high PR places and I'm afraid that just doesn't include Sheffield...

To be fair to them the council dont own or mange the sports Centres. Not sure about Don Valley but the other big ones are run by Sheffield International Venues (SIV).

I t seems that don valley is certainly not getting the events that it was supposed to receive.
It has to be one of the most underused venues in the country,which when you look at the place shoul'd not be the case.
Am I right when I say that only the sheffield eagles use the venue on a regular basis?

its the biggest athletics arena/stadium in the country

I was quick to jump on the bash the council band wagon, but equally at fault is the apathy of the Sheffield public who even when there is a good athletic comp down there still only turn up in hundreds rather than fully supporting it. Last year was a prime example when the English Schools had their championship at the DV and even Richard Caborn attended to give out some medals the general public hardly bothered to attend, so I can hardly blame the councillors who would see that and think their was no point in spending time and money on something that the locals can't be bothered to attend.

Originally posted by gawth
Can anyone explain to me why the "National City of Sport" has played no part whatsoever in the Olympic trials?

Ponds Forge hosted a very impressive Olympic/Paralympic Trials prior to Athens with television coverage from the BBC and plenty of press activity. It is still the country's no. 1 competition pool and hosts numerous national & international swim events.

It's not all track n' field tha nos...!

Originally posted by redinsheff
Ponds Forge hosted a very impressive Olympic/Paralympic Trials prior to Athens with television coverage from the BBC and plenty of press activity. It is still the country's no. 1 competition pool and hosts numerous national & international swim events.

It's not all track n' field tha nos...!

Ok so it's not all track n' field but if the SIV can attract the swimmers why oh why can't they attract more athletics events, also the spin offs are enormous to the local economy as every one who attends needs to be fed and watered, and most of them need places to sleep so it's not just one side or the other who stand to benefit. For goodnesss sake bang some heads together and make some noise it works for Manchester, Gateshead and Birmingham who all have events this summer.........and what have we got ?.........answers on a post card, and the second word is all

owdlad.

Considering all the cash and publicity directed to sport it doesn't seem to be a lucrative investment in terms of national prestige.
We are sending the smallest contingent for years to the Olympics
-including just one boxer - so not many medals there.
The fact is that sport is essentially a personal activity - like masturbation - which is fine for the participant.But pretty boring for the rest of us.
Football grounds and athletic stadiums are under-used assets and would be better left as wildlife sanctuaries.The police cou;ld then devote their resources to dealing with suburban crime.But of course nothing will happen as Sport has become the "driver" for Sheffield's lofty vision aided and abetted by Sheffield Hallam University.You can now collect an Honours Degree by studying the activities of the patrons of Champs Bar.The thesis is filed in the Hallam Learning Centre next to another thesis dealing with "trying on trainers in Footlocker".Heady stuff.

it does seem a shame that don valley is being used less than it used to, i think i needs revamping. It should be made into an all seater stadium and completely covered.

Other than don valley stadium though i think sheffield's sports facilities are still the best- the new ice sheffield complex is attracting a lot of attention and ponds forge is still by far the best pool in the country and the favourite venue for swimmers taking part in national championships. We even hosted the games on channel 4 which although was terrible it at least promoted our facilities. don valley needs to be sorted out though.

Originally posted by ladyovmanor
To be fair to them the council dont own or mange the sports Centres. Not sure about Don Valley but the other big ones are run by Sheffield International Venues (SIV).

Don Valley is part of SIV, along with Ponds Forge, Hillsborough Leisure Centre, the new Ice Rink, not sure if the Arena counts anymore, but it used to.

The council are horrendous regarding local sport. I used to swim in the team at Ponds Forge. Our team had contained two qualifiers for the '96 Olympics in Atlanta while one of the coaches won a medal in the '88 (?) Olympics. The council should have been proud of these high achievers but I doubt they even knew of them.

The club gets huge amounts of pool time took of them due to big galas & lane swimming, just so they can rake some more money in. Fair enough it's business they need to make money, but rather than rescheduling the training sessions, they just cancel them and don't offer the club any alternative arrangements. So much for wanting to encourage children to go in to sport.

The state of the pool recently is becoming disgraceful. It used to be maintained to immaculate conditions. The toilets, showers & changing areas often look as though they haven't been cleaned all day. The non slip mat has been taken out of the female international pool changing rooms, great for enhancing safety.

What with the increasing obseity & concerns about the nations health, the local councils should be doing everything they can do encourage people in to participating in sporting events & encouraging those who don't in to getting off their fat arses.

:D

Wasn't Channel 4's "The Games" filmed in Sheffield? Do you think that has hindered it's reputation as a quality sporting venue?

In Manchester there are loads of posters and adverts for some sporting events going on this weekend in and areound the city. I did wonder why Sheffield hadn't gpt them.