Stoke Mandeville Stadium welcomes Ugandan Visit

Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the national centre for wheelchair sport, has welcomed Simon Mugabi of the Ugandan Badminton Association to a 3 day visit of the Buckinghamshire region on behalf of the Ugandan National Olympic Committee. Following the visit Mr Mugabi, signed a Memorandum of Intent for Ugandan athletes to train at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

Mr Mugabi was looking at pre-games training camps before the London 2012 Olympic Games and would be looking to start preparations as early as November 2009. Key aspects for camps include a high class coach provision, excellent facilities and good competition to achieve their target of 12 athletes.



After touring Stoke Mandeville Stadium and several other local facilities including Aylesbury College and the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, Mr Mugabi said, “I have been totally overwhelmed by the impressive facilities that are on offer in the UK especially at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. We are looking forward to training here in the coming years leading not only to the Olympic Games in 2012 but also the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.”

Ian Barham, Buckinghamshire Manager for the 2012 Games said, “We were delighted to be able to welcome Simon here in Buckinghamshire to visit Stoke Mandeville and a number of other potential pre-games training camp venues. The visit was very useful in helping our understanding of how we may assist a number of nations to work closely together in order to bring athletes to this country ahead of the London 2012 Games and how we can support their hopes of taking part in international competitions and in receiving support and guidance from world class coaches as part of the Olympic Solidarity Programme.”

“We will continue to develop closer links with the Ugandan National Olympic Committee and their international partners to ensure that their athletes receive a warm welcome and access to first class facilities and services in Buckinghamshire as they prepare for the London 2012 Games.”

Mr Mugabe was also impressed by the varied facilities at Stoke Mandeville Stadium and will be encouraging other Ugandan Sports Associations to train in Buckinghamshire, these will include athletics, basketball, handball and boxing.



Paddy Herlihy, South East Manager for the 2012 Games said, "The South East England Development Agency and our regional partners are working together very hard to attract countries and teams to choose the South East region for their Pre Games Training Camp for the 2012 Games. Stoke Mandeville is a key player in this process, due to its global profile, so it is very exciting that the Ugandan Badminton team has selected Stoke Mandeville for their Training Camp.  The link will help Aylesbury develop close links with Uganda, which will benefit both partners in areas like business, education and tourism."
 
Ian Seabrook, Business Development Manager for Stoke Mandeville Stadium, ‘this is our first of what we hope to be many Memorandum of Intent signed for pre-games training camps. Ugandan Badminton is looking forward to improve the performance of its athletes and the Stadium is a perfect environment for the athletes to perform at their maximum potential. We will be working very closely with Simon to encourage other associations to come to us’.

The Stoke Mandeville Stadium is managed by Leisure Connection on behalf of the national charity for wheelchair Sport – WheelPower.