LOCATED in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China, Haigeng (Lakeside) National Training Centre was built in 1973 to take advantage of the moderate climate and high altitude.
Situated on the southern edge of Lake Dian and in the shadow of Xishan (West Mountain), Haigeng provides a peaceful atmosphere away from Kunming’s rapidly expanding metropolis of five million people.
Dubbed ‘Spring City’ and with an elevation of 1,888m, the Melbourne Football Club is considering using Haigeng for its annual pre-season altitude training program.
In November, chief executive Cameron Schwab, director of sports performance Neil Craig and strategic relationship manager Tom Parker inspected the facilities and were impressed with the opportunities it presented.
Regarded as one of China’s top four training institutes, Haigeng is a veritable gold medal factory, playing host to China’s national teams prior to Olympic competition.
Cameron Schwab said “it was an extraordinary opportunity to see what world class athletes have to do for the Olympic Games”.
He added that it was also enlightening to see the “respect” the Chinese had for Australian sport.
“While they didn’t know a lot about Australian Football, they knew a lot about Australian sport,” Schwab told melbournefc.com.au.
“They knew that our sport was the preeminent sport in Australia and they were looking to invest significantly in the facilities. If that can come off, it’s a long-term strategy - it’s not something you do as a one-off. You need to be there for a number of years.
“It is a unique opportunity because a lot of places, where you train at altitude, struggle to come up with grounds where AFL clubs can train. But there are two soccer pitches next to each other, so it does present an opportunity.”
Created to allow athletes to extend their training during northern China’s freezing winters, Haigeng in fact features 17 soccer pitches, eight indoor multi-use courts, running track, 50m competition pool, three weight rooms, various gyms for boxing, judo and gymnastics, multiple accommodation options, sports science research centre and a 600 seat dining hall.
Haigeng has also been approved for a $150million redevelopment that will begin in early 2012.
It will provide another two Olympic pools, updated tennis and soccer facilities, modern gymnasiums and harness the geo-thermal advantages of their mineral rich spring water.
This provides the opportunity for Melbourne to share their knowledge of AFL best practice and potentially build a long-term relationship. It will ensure a seamless transition for our players between Melbourne and Kunming, in terms of the type of equipment and facilities they use to prepare for the pre-season.
Haigeng offers the club an excellent base. It includes a self-contained hotel for the players, coaches and staff with private kitchen, dining room, and entertainment zone adjacent to the indoor courts, with an open grass area big enough to allow outdoor oval work to occur.
Xishan provides running trails only 10 minutes away that will take the players to 2,400m with a 30km ridge offering extended hiking and cardio options.
Kunming is also surrounded by mountains with Mt Jiaozi reaching 4,247m and longer treks available through Tiger Leaping Gorge (3,100m), where the Yangtze River passes through Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596m) and Haba Snow Mountain (5,396m) in a series of rapids.
Kunming is also closer than American altitude centres with only a 13-hour flight door-to-door from Melbourne rather than a 20-plus hour flight transit coupled with a long bus ride up a mountain.
Importantly, the weather allows for more outdoor training as well with daytime temperatures around 17-22 degrees.
Situated on the southern edge of Lake Dian and in the shadow of Xishan (West Mountain), Haigeng provides a peaceful atmosphere away from Kunming’s rapidly expanding metropolis of five million people.
Dubbed ‘Spring City’ and with an elevation of 1,888m, the Melbourne Football Club is considering using Haigeng for its annual pre-season altitude training program.
In November, chief executive Cameron Schwab, director of sports performance Neil Craig and strategic relationship manager Tom Parker inspected the facilities and were impressed with the opportunities it presented.
Regarded as one of China’s top four training institutes, Haigeng is a veritable gold medal factory, playing host to China’s national teams prior to Olympic competition.
Cameron Schwab said “it was an extraordinary opportunity to see what world class athletes have to do for the Olympic Games”.
He added that it was also enlightening to see the “respect” the Chinese had for Australian sport.
“While they didn’t know a lot about Australian Football, they knew a lot about Australian sport,” Schwab told melbournefc.com.au.
“They knew that our sport was the preeminent sport in Australia and they were looking to invest significantly in the facilities. If that can come off, it’s a long-term strategy - it’s not something you do as a one-off. You need to be there for a number of years.
“It is a unique opportunity because a lot of places, where you train at altitude, struggle to come up with grounds where AFL clubs can train. But there are two soccer pitches next to each other, so it does present an opportunity.”
Created to allow athletes to extend their training during northern China’s freezing winters, Haigeng in fact features 17 soccer pitches, eight indoor multi-use courts, running track, 50m competition pool, three weight rooms, various gyms for boxing, judo and gymnastics, multiple accommodation options, sports science research centre and a 600 seat dining hall.
Haigeng has also been approved for a $150million redevelopment that will begin in early 2012.
It will provide another two Olympic pools, updated tennis and soccer facilities, modern gymnasiums and harness the geo-thermal advantages of their mineral rich spring water.
This provides the opportunity for Melbourne to share their knowledge of AFL best practice and potentially build a long-term relationship. It will ensure a seamless transition for our players between Melbourne and Kunming, in terms of the type of equipment and facilities they use to prepare for the pre-season.
Haigeng offers the club an excellent base. It includes a self-contained hotel for the players, coaches and staff with private kitchen, dining room, and entertainment zone adjacent to the indoor courts, with an open grass area big enough to allow outdoor oval work to occur.
Xishan provides running trails only 10 minutes away that will take the players to 2,400m with a 30km ridge offering extended hiking and cardio options.
Kunming is also surrounded by mountains with Mt Jiaozi reaching 4,247m and longer treks available through Tiger Leaping Gorge (3,100m), where the Yangtze River passes through Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (5,596m) and Haba Snow Mountain (5,396m) in a series of rapids.
Kunming is also closer than American altitude centres with only a 13-hour flight door-to-door from Melbourne rather than a 20-plus hour flight transit coupled with a long bus ride up a mountain.
Importantly, the weather allows for more outdoor training as well with daytime temperatures around 17-22 degrees.
The option of training in Kunming, while offering players the opportunity to train at altitude in excellent facilities, also reinforces the club’s overall China strategy and makes it easier for the club to activate AFL game development of commercial opportunities.
The club is currently working with Haigeng to confirm costs, equipment requirements, and source suitable dietary options for Melbourne’s first altitude pre-season training camp in November 2012.
Craig said Melbourne was “investigating” all the possibilities with going to Kunming in November 2012. But he also didn’t rule out Qatar as an option.
“Whether it’s just China oriented or perhaps Qatar, which I also visited is another possibility. I had a look at their training facilities,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“While Qatar is not at altitude, they have built altitude houses that you sleep in and they also have altitude training rooms. Whereas in China, you live in altitude 24 hours a day and personally, if you’re going to go down that altitude path, that’s the No.1 option.
“The Kunming training centre is one of a number of training centres in China. They have all the necessary training facilities to basically pick up our program here and go to China and not miss a beat. It’s an outstanding facility in terms of location and equipment.
“We certainly got the feeling from the management of the Kunming training facility that if we wanted additional equipment - that could also be arranged. They were very accommodating.”
Craig said any initial hurdles could be overcome at Kunming.
“Barriers would be the language, but we’d find solutions in that, like taking Tom Parker, and obviously the food,” he said.
“While it would be good for the guys to eat authentic Chinese food - and I’m sure they would - but when you’re looking at training the team, you’ve got to make sure they can eat and sleep well.”
If everything measures up, the club would consider returning to Kunming every November for the next three to five years.
