Belek Training Facility Making Name for Itself

(ATR) Turkey’s largest elite performance training center is fast becoming the go-to destination for federations and NOCs seeking Olympic-standard facilities.

Opened a few months ago, Gloria Sports Arena in Belek has facilities to host up to 50 sports disciplines. Built on a 10.5 hectare site at a cost of about $50 million, it is equipped with the latest in technology to serve a diverse range of sports.

The 35,000-square-meter outdoor facilities include a track and field stadium with a capacity of 2,200 and various sports fields. It also boasts a 6,800-square-meterindoor complex which includes a multipurpose hall with telescopic

tribunes.

The aquatics center – the country’s biggest – includes a 10-lane Olympic-standard outdoor pool, five-lane indoor pool and facilities for diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.

Part of the Gloria Hotels & Resorts chain, owned by Turkish construction giant Özaltın Holding, it also features the first international standard hockey field in Turkey with the Olympic surface used at the London 2012 Games.

Millions of dollars have been invested in equipping the entire facility with the latest in sports technology. The indoor 120-meter running track for sprint training offers a sequential time measurement system favored by coaches.

The Icelab that offers WholeBodyCryoTherapy and Hydroworx Pool are two other examples of the hi-tech services provided.

The 100-room hotel on site aims to fulfill the requirements of groups of elite athletes and teams for training camps.

Gloria Sports Arena was on show to delegates attending the European Olympic Committees general assembly in May. Richard Ungerhofer, general manager of the arena, tells Around the Rings the idea of building the performance training center for elite and amateur sports was to widen the scope of services for sport offered in

Antalya, which is already home to more than 900 professional football clubs for winter training in January and February.

Belek is also a major golf destination with around 15 courses.

Ungerhofer says Gloria Sports Arena now offers an alternative option for international federations, NOCs and other sports groups who have made a beeline for training facilities in places such as the Canary Islands and South Africa.

Commenting on St. George’s Park in the U.K., he says it’s a "wonderful facility," joking "but still British weather."

Ungerhofer, a sports scientist, has inked contracts with German and Swiss national federations and teams in various sports and is now targeting hockey clubs in the Netherlands as well as growing the amateur sports business.

A former Puma marketing manager for Eastern Europe, Ungerhofer is inviting international and national federations as well as Olympic committees to see for themselves the quality of facilities on offer.

After the EOC meeting in May, when delegates visited the facility for a dinner and lunch, Ungerhofer said: "Now people involved in sport see this thing… federations or head coaches should know."

As more national and international federations take notice, Ungerhofer of Austria is developing programs for amateur sports in the gaps in the calendar. He is also involving Europe’s top fitness clubs to make use of the facility.

The diversity of facilities is Gloria Sports Arena’s calling card. It’s only a matter of time before the calendar fills up and Belek’s elite sports center starts to make a name for itself internationally.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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