Hundreds of school children and local people visited Odd Down Sports Ground in Bath on Monday, to celebrate the grand opening of the site and a special visit from the Webb Ellis Cup.
The Trophy, one of rugby’s most instantly recognisable icons, visited Bath as part of a tour leading up to the Rugby World Cup, ahead of its arrival in Twickenham in time for the starting whistle of Rugby World Cup on 18th September.
Providing superb facilities for potential sports stars of the future, Odd Down Sports Ground is part of a £3.4m joint investment by Bath & North East Somerset Council, Sport England Inspired Facilities Fund, British Cycling, The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Rugby Football Union (RFU) Lead Up and Legacy programme and the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, which is delivered the Football Foundation.
GLL, the UK’s largest leisure charitable social enterprise, will operate the facilities on behalf of the Council.
The official opening involved former England and British Lions rugby player and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, Jason Leonard; Exeter City football manager; Paul Tisdale, and former England cricketer, Mike Gatting, along with the Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, Cllr Tim Warren, and Colin Docker, Director and Vice Chair of British Cycling.
To mark the day and celebrate the forthcoming Rugby World Cup, the Council also organised a festival involving primary, special and secondary schools from across Somerset in tag and touch rugby games and tournaments.
Members of the Bath Rugby squad were there to support the games and cheer the children on.
The day also featured cycling activities for young people from British Cycling’s Go-Ride programme on the new 1.5km closed road circuit; Wheels for All inclusive cycling sessions; football activities with The FA skills coaches, circus skills workshop and even face-painting.
Members of the public had the opportunity to have their photograph taken with the Webb Ellis Cup from 2 – 3pm.
The Trophy then concluded its whistle-stop tour of the city by attending a question and answer evening at The Guildhall with Bath Rugby legends including David Trick, Danny Grewcock, Lee Mears and Matt Perry.
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Leader, Cllr Tim Warren (Conservative, Mendip) said: “This is a great day to celebrate the new facilities at Odd Down, which are a fantastic asset to the community and will benefit the health of people of all ages.
“It’s also been a great honour to host to the Webb Ellis Cup in advance of this year’s Rugby World Cup.
“Our new Council administration is committed to putting the interests of our communities at the forefront of everything we do, investing in our area’s young people and supporting healthier local communities.”
Mark Sesnan, Managing Director, GLL, said: “We are delighted to be part of this unique sporting offer.
“As a charitable social enterprise we offer a range of sports and physical activities in over 200 leisure facilities across the UK for people of all ages and particularly understand the importance of getting children involved in sport and physical activity.
“We hope to see many more people enjoying the fantastic activities available.”
The new facility includes a new pavilion, eight changing rooms, a café, community space and cycle workshop as well as a full-size third generation (3G) artificial grass pitch which will be used for both football and rugby; improved real grass pitches for football, rugby and cricket.
The new facilities complement the 1.5km closed road cycling circuit that is already well used and extremely popular with local cyclists and cycle clubs.
