Kallang Tennis and Football Hubs: Community glad to be able to train and compete, rain or shine, under huge roofs
Tennis hub's 19 courts will be open to public from Monday, while football hub will primarily be used by national squads
SINGAPORE — Singapore Tennis Association (STA) president Jasmine Quek and general manager Wilson Tay were unanimous when asked what their favourite part of the new Kallang Tennis Hub is.
"The roof, of course," they said with a laugh, looking at the huge structure that covers the hub's three indoor show courts.
"With the roof, we are able to conduct courses and run tournaments rain or shine," Tay explained during a media tour of the Kallang Tennis Hub on Friday (12 April). "A lot of our previous programmes have been impacted by the weather - whether it is the monsoon rain or the sweltering hot weather.
"Operationally, the new hub allows us to train our national players with more certainty in terms of time and schedule. The indoor courts also provide them with a more comfortable place to train. That's something the tennis community is really looking forward to."
Comprehensive range of facilities for tennis community
Indeed, with its seven indoor courts, as well as 12 full-sized and two junior-sized outdoor courts, the Kallang Tennis Hub offers a comprehensive range of facilities for the training needs of high-performance and budding tennis players under the STA and ActiveSG Tennis Academy.
Among the seven indoor courts are three show courts with seating capacity of up to 1,400, allowing the hub to host International Tennis Federation (ITF) competitions with spectators.
As it prepares to open for public use from Monday, STA president Quek hopes the hub can make Singapore a premier training centre for regional talents, as well as enable the city-state to host more ITF and Asian Tennis Federation competitions - perhaps even the professional ATP/WTA Tour tournaments in the future.
"By inviting top players from the region to train with our players, this will undoubtedly increase competition, raise the tennis standards around the region, and support our athletes as they prepare for major games, including the 2029 SEA Games," she said.
"Together with the existing Kallang Tennis Centre where we were previously based, we can replicate the existing programmes and tournaments onto this new hub, and that will help us increasing the number of tournaments we can host.
"The tennis community is excited by this all-weather facility, and we are delighted with this significant milestone for Singapore tennis."
Sheltered pitches for all-weather play at Kallang Football Hub
Likewise, the Kallang Football Hub - located just a road across the Kallang Tennis Hub - also features sheltered football pitches, allowing for all-weather play and training.
However, unlike the tennis hub courts which are open for public booking and use, the football pitches at the football hub are used as a training centre for the national teams as well as youth players of the National Development Centre, and are not available for public use.
It comprises one full natural pitch, three artificial turf pitches and three futsal courts. Of these, four pitches are sheltered by huge roofs, sheltering the players from inclement weather. The hub also features a high-performance indoor gym with sports science capabilities and youth-specific equipment.
"The Kallang Football Hub will serve as a key venue to help develop our next generation of football talent to represent Singapore," said Sport Singapore chief executive officer Alan Goh, who is also deputy chairman for the Unleash the Roar! national football project.
"Having our young talents train alongside our senior players in a quality venue will not only inspire our rising stars, but also help foster a culture of excellence and camaraderie among our TeamSG footballers.”
Both the Kallang Tennis Hub and Kallang Football Hub will be part of the Kallang Alive precinct managed by the Kallang Alive Sports Management (KASM). KASM said last year that it expects the Singapore Sports Hub to draw close to 1 million visitors with its slate of events for 2024.
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