From the Centres

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre - London, UK

Rose Macdonald, BA, MCSP, MCPA, SRP

HistoryIn 1852 a magnificent glass building,erected to house the Great Exhibitionin Hyde Park, was moved to one of thehighest points of London - CrystalPalace. Here it stood towering overSouth London until 1936 when it wasdestroyed by fire. When the Festival ofBritain was organized in 1951 tocommemorate the Centenary of theGreat Exhibition, the Government re-developed the Crystal Palace site bybuilding a National Youth and SportsCentre. The National Sports Centrewas opened in 1964 by HRH PrincePhilip, having been built by theGreater London Council with guid-ance and inspiration from the CentralCouncil of Physical Recreation. It wasthe first British sporting centre to havebeen designed and built along highlypractical and aesthetic lines. The Cen-tre is now managed by the SportsCouncil.

AimsThe primary aim of the Centre was toprovide residential facilities for train-ing and coaching courses for as manysports as possible, enabling thevarious sports to organise centralizedintensive sessions in an ideal setting.A second aim was to provide a homefor certain sports which had no firmheadquarters of their own.

Implicit in these aims was the needto provide first class sporting facilities,hence the Olympic standard swim-ming pool, the track and fieldstadium, the indoor arena and theresidential lodge. These facilitieswould also allow Crystal Palace toserve as a local community sportscentre for the south London area with

Address for correspondence: Rose Mac-donald BA, MCSP, MCPA, SuperintendentPhysiotherapist, Sports Injury Centre,Crystal Palace National Sports Centre,London SE19 2BB, UK

(© 1990 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd0306-3674/90/010010-03

I''.The original 'Crystal Palace' site

high intensity use of the basic facili-ties.

LocationThe Sports Centre is situated in aspacious park six miles south ofcentral London, within the perimeterof the long established motor-racingcircuit. It is easily accessible by car andpublic transport. As the premieresports centre in Britain, Crystal Palaceis a leading competition venue forboth international and domesticevents. It is the training centre fornational squads, clubs, schools andserious enthusiasts and a location foramateur teams to enjoy their sport anda starting point for the absolute begin-ner.About 25000 members attend the

Centre each month for various activi-ties. In addition to these, about 25 000school children as well as 17000 clubmembers and 4000 people on coursesuse the facilities each month. Thesesports-minded individuals are allactively participating in the swimmingpools, arena, tracks, astroturf, 5-a-side, ski slope, pitches and outdoorcourts.

FacilitiesThe athletic stadium has an all-weather 'tartan' track and high levelflood-lighting. It was the first syn-

thetic track in Europe and was instal-led in 1968. At some time in theircareer most of the world's greatestathletes have competed in the CrystalPalace Stadium. It is a major inter-national track and field venue with acapacity of 17000 spectators. Thisstadium is also used extensively in theevenings for American football, rugbyand soccer, as well as for athleticstraining.The indoor facility has a covered110m x 1Gm training area which islarge enough to enable pole vaultersand high jumpers to practise.Hockey There are both grass and twofull-sized floodlit synthetic hockeypitches to accommodate play in mostweather conditions.Football Two floodlit synthetic grasspitches are available. There is also anindoor area, 34m x 22 m, coveredwith a carpeted surface.Netball Six all-weather floodlit courts,in addition to the indoor courts,provide first class facilities for netball.

Tennis Six floodlit all-weather courtsare available throughout the year.

Skiing The artificial Dendix Ski Slope,the first seen in the UK, is ideal forpre-ski preparation. This slope with itsnatural obstacles provides a usefulintroduction to the real slopes.

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Running track

Indoor facilitiesThe main sports hall is a glass frontedcube, 87 x 81 x 21 m high, enclosingthe pools, arena, cricket hall, tennisand squash courts, and services.Swimming pool The 50m Olympicstandard pool is 2m deep and equip-ped with electronic timing and score-boards for racing and water polo. Aseparate 20m diving pool has a fullrange of fixed and spring boards and is5m deep. It is equipped with a bubblemachine for training.There is a six lane warm water

training pool, plus a teaching poolwhich caters for teacher and coachingcourses. There is an extensive pro-gramme for mother and baby classesin the warm pool.Up to 1700 spectators can be seated

around the pool in tiered seats. Anunderwater observation window runsthe length of the main pool providinga vantage point for coaches and filmcrews.

The main arena is large enough forthree basketball or netball courts to beplaced side by side. It is regularly usedfor indoor hockey, judo, martial arts,basketball and volleyball. The allmaple surfaced hall is ideal for stagingnational championships.There is seating for 2050 spectators

on the retractable benches. A further72 people may use the glassed-in VIPboxes which overlook the main arenafrom one end. Press boxes, and specialviewing areas are also available. Thenorth balcony is situated at the oppo-site end of the arena and has a teakfloor marked out for four badmintoncourts. This area may also be used forother indoor activities such as karate,judo, netball, table tennis and fencing.The training halls are constantly in

use for a variety of activities such asboxing, trampolining, volleyball, aero-bics, keep fit etc. The third traininghall is permanently equipped forweights and fitness training.There is a separate heavy weights

room fully equipped for power andOlympic weight-lifters.

Treatment and assessment in the Sports Injury Centre

Cricket hall This multipurpose areacan house 14 cricket-nets and is alsoused for movement and dance,weight-lifting, basketball, karate andjudo. It is equipped with a PA systemand electronic scoreboard and canaccommodate seating for 500 for alarge lecture.

EducationEach week thousands of childrencome to Crystal Palace for specializedteaching and coaching by qualifiedinstructors in a variety of indoor andoutdoor sports. Residential coursesare also available for both teachers andstudents. Many schools use the Centreto stage their sports days.

AccommodationThe Lodge is an attractive tower blockwhich can accommodate 135 indi-viduals. Meals are provided and there

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are common rooms and a staff room.The residents in The Lodge mayinclude school children, teachers onin-service training sessions, coachesand international athletes, all mixingin the communal areas of The Lodge.Conferences Facilities are heavilybooked throughout the year. There arethree main meeting areas with seatingfrom 20-150 people. Audio-visual'equipment is provided.Catering The Centre has a wide rangeof food outlets which operate through-out the day and evening.

Sports Injury CentreThe Sports Injury Centre is situated onthe ground floor of the Jubilee Spec-tator Stand adjacent to the track andoccupies approximately 4000 sq feet ofspace. It is of open plan so thatpatients may be observed by thetherapists during the treatment andrehabilitation programme.

Facilities include three consultingrooms, a large open treatment area, agymnasium, a wet room, changingrooms, reception area, office accom-modation and a staff room.The large wet room is equipped

with built-in faradic foot baths, anultrasound sink, and a mobile Lo-boyWhirlpool bath. There is a largecushioned ice bed which is built at aworkable height for treatment, castingfor orthotics, and plastering. The wetroom is also equipped with a hydro-collator and a large ice machine. Awashing machine and dryer deal withthe large number of towels and icetowels which are used daily.The open plan treatment area has

nine hydraulic treatment couches and atraction unit. Physiotherapy electricalmodalities include diapulse, curapuls,shortwave, interferential, diadynamic,ultrasound, faradism, orthotron, mul-tistim and small portable units such a Qpulse, centicure, rebox, TNS, flowtronpumps etc.The free exercise area is equipped

with three low beds and the usualsmall rehabilitation equipment includ-ing rocker/wobble boards in varioussizes, a Pro Fitter board for trainingand rehabilitation, bouncers, weightboots, medicine balls and variouskinds of rubber tubing for strengthtraining.The gym is glazed on two walls for

clear visibility. It is equipped with fivepieces of NORSK sequence trainingequipment, a Schnell M3 strengthtraining unit, treadmill, bicycle ergo-meters, bilateral pulley systems, wallbars, shoulder wheel, wrist roller,weights, a muscle strength testingmachine and recorder, together withsmall fitness testing equipment such

Athletes undergoing treatment in the Sports Injury Centre

as pulse meters, cardiotesters dyna-mometers and flexometers etc. Thisequipment is used primarily for physi-cal rehabilitation but it is also used forstrength and flexibility programmes.The NORSK strength training equip-ment was, and still can be, used fororganised fitness training classes.

The physiotherapist's office has acorner window which allows a clearview of the treatment and gym areas,and may also be used as an -extraconsulting room. The consultingrooms are adequately equipped.The Sports Injury Centre has a

medical advisory panel of consultantsand doctors from the London teachinghospitals. This is chaired by theMedical Director of the Sports InjuryCentre who is a rheumatology consul-tant with wide experience in sportsmedicine. Diagnostic clinics are heldtwice weekly, an orthopaedic clinicbi-monthly and a podiatry clinic bi-monthly, when bio-mechanical assess-ments are video taped and casting fororthotics is carried out.The doctors attending the clinic are

from a variety of hospitals and thusprovide the necessary links with thesehospitals for X-ray, CT scans, ultra-sound scans, MR scans and furtherinvestigative tests through to surgery.They also provide cover for variousathletic and other team events at theCentre in their capacity as members ofvarious governing bodies of sport.Nutritional advice is available to all thegoverning bodies of sport.Three full-time physiotherapists,

together with a pool of nine part-timephysiotherapists with a special in-terest and expertise in sports injuries,work regularly on a sessional rota eachweek. These physiotherapists work inhospitals, private clinics, or privatepractice when not at the clinic. Theymay be present at the clinic forinternational events at the Centre andtravel with teams both at home andabroad. They have diverse back-grounds and there is expertise avail-able in many areas of treatment andrehabilitationAdministration Four part-time sec-retary/receptionists look after the dayto day operation of the clinic.

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