Opening of our Centre of Excellence for Sport

17th September 2025 – Tags: Easton College Tennis Centre, Equine Studies, Higher Education, Outdoor Leadership, Sport, Uniformed Services

The new Easton College Centre of Excellence for Sport has been officially opened by Norwich City footballers Liam Gibbs and Louie Moulden.

The college has invested £1.7m in upgrading the Sports Centre and outdoor activity facilities, adding to the impressive range of sporting facilities at Easton. 

New-look Sports Centre

Visitors to the new-look Sports Centre are welcomed into a light and spacious reception area, leading to a refectory serving a menu that has been developed with sports nutrition and healthy eating in mind. 

Leading off from the reception area are a series of new fitness suites designed and supplied by Perform Better, and other sports and exercise-focused areas, including a Resistance Machine Room, Cadio Room, Sports Performance Lab, Studio for circuit training, yoga, pilates, and other exercise classes, Functional Fitness Room, and multi-functional classrooms. 

Search our sports courses for 16-18 year olds

Top-level sporting facilities 

In addition, the Centre of Excellence for Sport includes our Equestrian Centre, Tennis Centre (with 8 indoor hard courts and 4 European red courts, which hosts all levels of competition up to and including professional international Tennis Federation Tour events), 3G sport pitches, and opportunities for paddle sports, mountain biking and bushcraft. 

There has also been investment in new outdoor facilities, supplied by School of Outdoor Learning, which have been designed for health, wellbeing, and team building activities.  

These includes a solar-powered outdoor classroom, and several different outdoor activity stations designed to develop and promote a range of skills such as communication, leadership and problem solving. These stations combine to provide a menu of 120 different activities that can be used to foster soft skills.

See our new facilities – book a campus tour

A springboard for careers in sport, health and fitness

The facilities at the Easton College Centre of Excellence for Sport will expand the practical learning opportunities for students on sports, outdoor leadership, and uniformed public services courses, cementing our position as the leading training provider for sports courses in the county.  

Easton College is the only provider in Norfolk that offers sports courses for 16-year-old school leavers with the opportunity to progress all the way to a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport, Health and Exercise Science. 

The college is also offering a new part-time evening course for adults who want to train to become gym instructors – find out more about the course which starts in November.

Easton College was also recently confirmed as a Further Education partner of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).

Find out about our degree in Sport, Health and Exercise Science

Open to community and sports clubs  

The Easton Centre of Excellence for Sport facilities are available for use by members of the local community, elite and amateur athletes, and sports teams. 

Gym membership is available for our new fitness suite and all our spaces are bookable on a commercial basis. 

To find out more about commercial opportunities please contact Head of Commercial Operations, Matt Breese, on (01603) 731264 or email collegehire@ccn.ac.uk.  

Jerry White, Principal of Easton College, commented:

“The exceptional facilities we have put into the Easton College Centre of Excellence for Sport build on the national-level standard of our Tennis Centre and Equestrian Centre.

 

The new training equipment and sports performance facilities will further enhance the practical learning opportunities available to students on our sports, outdoor leadership and uniformed services courses – a real boost for those aspiring to launch their careers in sport, health, and fitness.

 

We want the Centre of Excellence for Sport to be available to everyone, from elite and semi-professional athletes, to local sports teams and clubs, as well as members of the local community wanting to improve their fitness, and local businesses looking for team-building opportunities.”