Going for gold!
Date published: 08 June 2009
School’s bid to play host to Olympic stars
TOP athletes such as Jamaican superstar sprinter Usain Bolt or Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho could be heading to Chadderton.
The British Olympic Committee has described the sports facilities at Radclyffe School as world class and included them in a list of potential training venues sent out to countries ahead of London 2012.
This means top athletes could use the location — dubbed Radclyffe Sports Village — as a training camp any time in the run up to the Olympics or as a holding camp before the games.
And pupils would get to meet the sporting stars thanks to an educational programme included in the package.
Delighted head teacher Hardial Hayer said: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to see athletes who would be competing at the Olympics. It just raises the aspirations of everybody to see these first-class athletes using the same training venues as they use themselves. It will make them feel good about themselves, good about our school.
“It was suggested we might attract one of the Caribbean countries and our staff would quite like it to be Brazil because we would love to to see Ronaldinho down here.
“Usain Bolt, that would really be a bolt out of the blue to get an athlete of his calibre in Oldham. It would be fantastic, not just for the school, but for the borough as well.”
If a country chooses to come to Radclyffe, its athletes would be able to use the floodlit athletics track and an indoor 60 metre sprint track with jumping and throwing areas. There are also football, rugby and cricket pitches, tennis courts, a dance studio, two sports halls, a fitness gym and sports classrooms.
The school’s Cafe Mojo is also seen as an attraction and deputy head teacher Andy Meehan who worked on the the application said: “It’s one thing the Olympics coming to London, but involving the pupils would be amazing.
“We had an inspection by a representative from the British Olympic Committee and they said the facilities were world class — that’s what they put in their report back to us.
“A booklet goes out to the governing bodies for sports in each country and they could use the facilities any time between now and the Olympics or as a holding camp in the run up. It depends on their needs.”