Sport facilities

Loughborough University’s global reputation for sporting excellence is built on a long and successful sporting heritage.

As part of Imago Venues, we are proud to be part of Loughborough University and work extremely closely with our Sports colleagues to extend their world class sport facilities, personnel and research to your conference or events.

Loughborough University was named the best sporting university in the world in the global QS higher education league table for the last 6 years on the trot.

Cementing its place at the pinnacle of UK sport, Loughborough was also named Sports University of the Year for the second time by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. This prestigious title shows the overall quality of the sporting offer and the University's unparalleled role in the triumph of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams in Rio.

This strong association with elite performance sport is boosted by the number of students, alumni and Loughborough-based athletes that choose our facilities as their training base; the number of national sport governing bodies that house their main headquarters here; and the decision in 2012 to use Loughborough as the official preparation camp for Team GB ahead of the Olympics.

We're proud of the part we play in one of the country’s leading higher education institutions and the unique facility we offer for sports training camps - the largest concentration of high quality sports training facilities in the UK and unique access to the country's leading coaches, sports scientists and support staff.

Whether you're staying overnight or wanting to hold a specialist training event or sports camp, we're just a five minute walk from all of the University's sports facilities, making us the ideal location for visiting athletes, coaches and sports professionals.

Grass and artificial pitches (football, cricket, hockey, American football etc.)

Artificial pitches

We have a variety of high standard artificial surface training pitches on the Loughborough University campus, catering for a full range of sports and ability levels from elite squad training to kick-about sessions.

• The EHB sand-dressed pitch. Ideal for hockey, lacrosse, and training for a range of sports, this sand-dressed surface is a popular kick-about area that is fully floodlit and situated adjacent to the National Cricket Academy. The pitch is one of the most heavily used training and recreational facilities on campus.
• PEC Rubber Crumb pitch. A multi-purpose training & competition area that is fully floodlit with adjacent changing facilities that is used primarily for Football matches and training (11-a-side and 7-a-side), Rugby training, American Football training and Lacrosse.

Water-based hockey pitch

Our water-based hockey pitch is a fully floodlit facility, where the water canons ensure the quality of the pitch is of international standard for all levels of hockey teams. The surface was replaced in 2012, and is the same material as the one used in the London 2012 Olympic Games

Loughborough University Stadium

Opened in 2012, the stadium is home to Loughborough University FC and can accommodate crowds of up to 3,500 people. In addition we have conference facilities and 14 changing rooms.

Seb Coe High Performance Athletics Centre (Hi-PAC)

The High Performance Athletics Centre (HiPAC) is a first class training facility. The purpose built centre supports the needs of our top international athletes, through to the local community and schools. The centre is available for everyone from the casual user, clubs and high performance users.

Home to the annual Loughborough International Athletics meet where you can see current and future athletics stars compete.

• The track. The outdoor Paula Radcliffe Athletics track consists of a number of facilities, including a high jump arena, two shot put circles, two discus circles, one hammer circle, two javelin run up areas, three pole vault run ways, two jumping runways, and an eight lane 400M and sprint track.
• Indoor track. The lower floor consists of 8 x 110M sprint lanes with 10M run off, two pole vault beds, horizontal jumps pit with three parallel approach lanes, throws curtains, gymnastics training area, stretching mats and a conditioning gym.
• Indoor throw centre. The upper floor consists of a high jump and shot put areas, throws wall, two throwing cages and CV machines.

Recreational

Dotted across our campus you will find purple fenced areas that allow everyone to turn up and play sport without needing to book. The largest example is our ball park area which consists of an artificial hard court surface designed to accommodate a range of ball sports, with six Basketball courts, two Netball courts, two Tennis courts and two Football courts, there is something for everyone. Free to use for anybody who wants to play.

Beach Volley Ball

Based at Holywell Park near the Loughborough University Stadium and made with the same sand that was used for the Beach Volleyball at London 2012 Olympics. You can play beach volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, beach rounders or any other sport or activity that can be played on the sand.

Indoor facilities

Tennis

The Tennis Centre consists of eight Indoor tennis courts, three outdoor artificial courts and three outdoor clay courts. The highly quality facilities has played host to many professional tennis competitions including the Aegon GB Pro-Series Championships.

Swimming

The £6 million pool is a state of the art 50M, 8 lane pool, designed for the needs of elite training, to childrens lessons alike. The pool can be split into two 25M pools by means of a moveable boom. One of the pools then has a moveable floor enabling the depth to vary between 0-2 metres, making it ideal for all types of swimming activity.

Netball Centre

Home to England Netball, this facility serves as a base for our Loughborough Lightning and University teams. The Netball courts have a semi sprung floor and can accommodate 450 spectators.

Badminton

The Badminton facility comprises of four Badminton courts with specially designed non slip floors and plays host to a number of international tournaments throughout the year.

Cricket Ground

The National Cricket Performance Centre for the England and Wales Cricket Board houses the world’s most sophisticated, hi-tech indoor cricket facility, and two first class standard grounds.

Sports Hall

The Sir David Wallace multi use sports hall is suitable for recreation through to elite use, having been used for a number of national and international televised events. It is designed for use by many sports, from basketball and volleyball, through to rocket ball, futsal and the annual AU club Dance competition.