#5
Sports Hall 2- North Wing
The smaller of the 2 Sports halls. Sports Hall 2 caters for Badminton, Basketball, Volleyball, 5-aside Football, Netball and Table Tennis. Whilst it provides a valuable space for certain sports, this facility ranks at the bottom of the list purely due to its size and quality in comparison to the other locations that will be mentioned later on, finally proving that size does matter.
#4
Squash Courts
With 4 glass backed courts, Newcastle Uni provides true quality to its squash players. If you’re in dire need of a casual squash game against your friends or just need an excuse to keep fit; then bookings are easy to make on the University’s Sport and Fitness website. However, for those who prize their squash abilities above the average human, why not try and compete to gain a place in one of the 4 men’s and 2 women’s teams who currently compete in BUCS.
#3
Sports Hall 1- South Wing
The bigger of the 2 sports halls, Sports Hall 1 provides all the sports that the aforementioned sports hall does whilst also hosting slightly more niche sports like Pickleball, Short Tennis and Handball. This is the space that gives people the most variety of sports to play and pick from whilst it also hosts BUCS games (alongside Sports Hall 2) for most of the sports that have been named.
#2
Gym
The Universities gym facilities take 2nd place in this facilities ranking. The gym has high quality fitness equipment perfect for anyone who already goes to the gym or is thinking about starting. However, one issue with the main gym which sees them just miss out on top spot, is the popularity of it which causes a lack of availability for many machines. Recommended times to arrive at the gym would be from its 7am open until around 11am which is where the rush of gym goers starts to occur. An alternative option to dragging yourself out of bed early in the morning, would be to book one of the downstairs strength and conditioning rooms which are much less busy and have all the necessary equipment.
#1
Studios
Taking the top spot are the 5 high quality sports studios that host a variety of different sports clubs, exercise classes and mindfulness spaces. Studios 1,2 and 4 are designed for instructor led exercises classes. This is where I personally took part in the Jujitsu society which had quality in depth sessions taught by well-qualified instructors, whilst it also held a good amount of space for everyone to practice in. Studio 3 is known as the Mind and Body studio, which caters for mainly Yoga and Pilates, giving a great space for people to relax whilst exercising. Finally, the Spin Studio has a large amount of high-quality Technogym exercise bikes, perfect for having a high intensity workout during one of the many spin classes that are provided by the Uni.