ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app

November 25, 2020

Wellington Phoenix makes ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app permanent training base

Football club to utilise campus facilities throughout the 2020/21 A-League season

The University of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app (ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app) welcomes the announcement today by A-League football club, Wellington Phoenix of its decision to make ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app its Australian training base for the forthcoming 2020/21 season.

The announcement follows a successful pre-season, high-performance training camp using the University’s ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Campus Sports Hub and High-Performance Training facilities since 1 November 2020.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings CBE welcomed the Wellington Phoenix to the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Campus, assuring them the University would continue to provide a high-quality training environment for the team and was proud to add the Phoenix partnership to ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app’s growing list of sporting partnerships.

“We welcome Wellington Phoenix’s decision to continue training at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app for the season. The University of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app has had a longstanding commitment to combining education with sports by supporting local, regional sports and by partnering with elite Australian and international sports clubs such as the Wellington Phoenix,” Professor Wellings said.

L-R: Alex Rufer, Jeremy Wilshire (Destination ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app), Ufuk Talay, Matthew Spicer (Venues NSW), Ann-Marie Balliana (CEO, Football South Coast), Professor Alex Frino, Kerry Hunt (ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app City Council), David Ball, Marc Swan (Venues NSW) Photo: Paul Jones

Wellington Phoenix Head Coach, Ufuk Talay, says that he has been impressed with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app and their provision of world-class facilities and support to the club.

“The team here at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app has been great, very accommodating and have made us feel at home – their training grounds are top-notch and provide us everything we need.

“Some of the players will now move into their own accommodation around the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app area, while others will choose to stay at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app.

“We’re excited to be based here and we’re looking forward to the locals getting in behind the team.”

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app has sports partnerships with English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, offering the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Tottenham Hotspur Global Football Program and with the Crusaders Rugby Union offering the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Crusaders Global Rugby Program.

These programs offer players the opportunity to study a ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app qualification, while also developing their football or rugby skills with training provided by fully qualified coaches from Tottenham Hotspur and the Crusaders.

Andy Rogers, Tottenham Hotspur’s Head of Global Football Development, said the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Global Football Program greatly benefits students wishing to improve their football skills while pursuing a degree.

“We are proud of our partnership with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app. The best-in-class training facilities and programs provided by ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app complement the benefits that ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Global Football Program has to provide. The program offers a unique opportunity for students to develop their football skills while pursuing a degree of their choice. Many students have benefited from this program offering,” Mr Rogers said.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app also has had a longstanding partnership with the St George Illawarra Dragons for both its NRL and Women’s NRL teams and the highly successful Graduates of League program.

The University considers the health and safety of students, staff and community as its utmost priority. All the physical activities on campus are performed under strict health and safety requirements outlined in ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app’s COVID safe plan.