Overview

Sunderland’s Academy of Light opened its doors in 2003 and is rightly considered amongst the best football training facilities in Europe. It’s a far cry from the club’s previous training ground, the Charlie Hurley Centre, which was made up of temporary buildings including an old cricket pavilion.

The Academy is home to all the club’s representative teams, from the youngest age groups through to the U18, U23 and senior squads as well as the Sunderland Ladies team. The club’s players have access to magnificent facilities, including a hydrotherapy pool, top-class medical care and an indoor barn featuring a 4G synthetic pitch as well as up to 18 outdoor pitches.

The Academy aims to be professional, approachable and friendly and will give young players the best chance to develop on the pitch as well as socially and academically. The club has been awarded prestigious Category One status under the Elite Player Performance Plan – the highest level possible.

When the Academy of Light was built a large space was allocated for Strength and Conditioning- the equipment had become tired and the decision was made to fully refurbish the facility. Having supplied a lot of the existing equipment Perform Better were selected to fully re-equip the equipment and flooring. A glass partition between the two sections of the room was removed along with the wooden sprung floor and was replaced with Duratrain Performance flooring and a turf track.

Having visited a number of Perform Better’s local installations the Performance team selected the Standard Range of Power Racks with integrated Smiths machines and storage. Branded lifting platforms were inset into the Duratrain flooring and Standard Half Racks with integrated storage were installed down the opposite wall. The racks were complemented by a number of disc loading machines- Leg Press, Leg Extension and Leg Curl and a Dual Adjustable Pulley.

There was a very tight turnaround to complete the project with Sunderland qualifying for the play off final at the end of last season. The flooring was removed and replaced while the players were away and then the equipment was installed while the players were away on camp in Portugal and everything was completed when the players returned.

Equipment