Around six years ago, Moray Sports Centre officially opened its doors.
The £12 million facility on Linkwood Road in Elgin is run by charity Moray Sports Foundation.
It first offered a sports hall, gym, cycling studio, cafe and other fitness rooms.
Now, the charity also runs a new world-class indoor tennis centre which further puts it on the map.
And they have further plans to expand their offering.
The Press and Journal stopped by to have a chat with Moray Sports Centre CEO Iain Stokes about the sports centre, including;
- How their tennis centre is raising their profile.
- The challenge of having a PureGym a mile away.
- And exclusively reveal their plans to expand facilities
How the tennis facility is helping put the centre on the map
Last July, the £1.63m new four-court indoor facility opened in efforts to grow participation in tennis.
It was delivered via a partnership between Moray Sports Foundation, sportscotland, the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation and Tennis Scotland through the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis (TSIT) funding.
It has proven to be popular with kids turning out in their large numbers to take part in the centre’s junior programme.
Iain said: “Tennis has opened up a whole different income and well over 150 children are on the junior programme.
“Most of them had never got the opportunity to play tennis before now.
“The boys and girls are mainly five or six and are loving it.”
The centre has also drawn people to their facilities for the first time.
He added: “The tennis facility is unlike anything between Stirling and Aberdeen.
“We are getting people regularly from Inverness which is great and raising the profile of tennis and the sports centre.
“We want to build on the junior programme and move into adults.
“We have already held one tournament and want to hold more so players can earn points rather than having to travel to the central belt all the time.
“I think the tennis centre has made more people aware of the centre and realise it is a nice place and has the wow factor.”
Facing the juggernaut of PureGym
The arrival of gym giants PureGym in Elgin a mile away from the Moray Sports Centre has proven to be a challenge.
When it first opened, the centre lost gym members. However, they have bounced back and are thriving.
Iain added: “We are a locally-run charity, so one of the challenges we have had recently was when PureGym opened a mile away with a cut price opening offer.
“And all the marketing clout they’re got behind them being the largest gym chain in Europe.
“We lost about a third of our fitness members at the same time as they opened.
“And it’s taken a year really for us to start getting those people back and rebuilding our membership base, because that’s the most important part of the charity’s income from activities.
“However our numbers are growing every year for our gym memberships and bookings.”
The centre is focused on showcasing their array of quality facilities, rather than paying attention to their competition.
He said: “I just focus on what we do well by offering good, welcoming and clean facilities and welcoming staff too.
“And we make sure people are treasured and try to help people with their goals whether it is health or fitness.
“We offer the community a feel of a private members club and at a council level of price as much as we can.”
‘They will appreciate and enjoy the facilities’
He added: “At the same time, we have to make sure it remains as commercial as we can.
“It is important we continue to make people aware of the centre in Elgin and through the doors.
“We are confident once they visit here, they will appreciate and enjoy the facilities we offer.”
Pictures of the facilities:
What does the future hold for Moray Sports Centre?
This is just the beginning for the centre.
Iain Stokes revealed work is taking place behind the scenes to look at bringing more facilities.
He revealed: “The building is in effect modular, so we can add different pieces to the centre.
“Therefore it is future proof and we have a lot of land that we can build on.
“The view locally is this will be a sports village and somewhere which is multi sports.
“And known in the North of Scotland as a place to be.
“However, in these times, getting funding is more and more challenging because less about and more people wanting it.
“And getting the right things in place at the right time.”
Bouldering and climbing in Moray?
The focus has always been on providing facilities for unrepresented sports.
He said: “Where there is need for facilities in unrepresented sports, we will work with government bodies to try to get them.
“That’s why we started with the tennis facility.
“We are working on brining a potential bouldering and climbing centre to Moray.
“It is taking longer than expected to get a feasibility study and funding.
“We are keen on delivering it as it would be a fantastic facility for the region and help the environment as people will make less of the cliff line.”
Plans for an athletics track
Meanwhile, a new athletics track could be built on land next to the Moray Sports Centre.
It is hoped a share of a £20 million Elgin fund will help deliver the facility.
He said: “We are working with local partners to create an athletics track near the Moray Sports Centre.
“The project is more than likely to happen.
“In terms of funding it will be a bit of everything and supported by the UK Government’s £20m Elgin fund which is being overseen by the Elgin Town Board.”
Athletes believe the facility could have knock-on benefits for the whole community in attracting and retaining talent for the workforce.
Click here to see what Moray Sports Centre has on offer.
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