New sports centre opened at College

Lurgan College officially opened its brand new Sports Complex at the Lough Road last week.
Guest  of honour at the official opening of the new sports facilities at Lurgan College, Dame Mary Peters, third from left, pictured with, from left, Julie Hinds, Hockey coach, Jamie Hunter, Rugby 1st Xv captain, Mr Trevor Robinson, school principal, Kathryn Edgar, Girls Hockey 1st XI captain and Mr Brian Hanna, head of PE. INLM38-202.Guest  of honour at the official opening of the new sports facilities at Lurgan College, Dame Mary Peters, third from left, pictured with, from left, Julie Hinds, Hockey coach, Jamie Hunter, Rugby 1st Xv captain, Mr Trevor Robinson, school principal, Kathryn Edgar, Girls Hockey 1st XI captain and Mr Brian Hanna, head of PE. INLM38-202.
Guest of honour at the official opening of the new sports facilities at Lurgan College, Dame Mary Peters, third from left, pictured with, from left, Julie Hinds, Hockey coach, Jamie Hunter, Rugby 1st Xv captain, Mr Trevor Robinson, school principal, Kathryn Edgar, Girls Hockey 1st XI captain and Mr Brian Hanna, head of PE. INLM38-202.

Guest of Honour for the ceremony was Dame Mary Peters.

The Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr Stanley Abraham, and the Headmaster, Mr Trevor Robinson, expressed their gratitude to the Department of Education and the Education Authority (Southern Region) for funding the ambitious project, which involved the provision of a new synthetic hockey pitch and a pavilion comprising four changing rooms, a club room and other ancillary facilities.

Tribute was also paid to the high quality workmanship of the two contractors involved in the project, Moss Construction Ltd (pitch) and Ganson UK Ltd (pavilion).

Dame Mary Peters, who began her teaching career as a student teacher of Home Economics at Lurgan College, was clearly very pleased to return to the College to officially open the new Sports Complex.

On behalf of the school, the Head Boy, Peter Beck, and Head Girl, Victoria Flavell, presented Dame Mary with a bouquet of flowers and a donation of £500 to The Dame Mary Peters Trust, a charitable organisation which supports young sportsmen and women.

The College had organised a celebration of sport around the event - involving a primary school hockey tournament featuring local feeder primary schools; a 1st XI boys’ hockey match against Newtown College, a touring team from Waterford; a 1st XV rugby match against the College’s sister school, Portadown College; and a 1st XI girls’ hockey match against an Ulster Schools XI.

Mr Robinson added: “I also commend the outstanding work and professionalism of the EA (Southern Region) Architects Department, who ensured that the dream of such a facility became a reality. I look forward to seeing future generations of Lurgan College pupils benefitting from these world-class facilities for many years to come. This is, however, an investment for the whole community and it is my hope that, while its mere presence enhances greatly the local area aesthetically, it also has the potential to provide a facility which, with the provision of lighting in the future, will allow for its use by other schools and local sporting organisations.”