British School Jakarta Opens State-of-the-Art Sports Facilities

British School Jakarta’s (BSJ) new Sports Centre forms the centrepiece of the School’s East Campus redevelopment, which also includes two all-weather football fields.

These new facilities make the School one of the best-resourced for sport in southeast Asia, and considerably enhance its well- established sports and social responsibility programmes.

In its main hall, the Sports Centre has three full-size basketball courts, with the wall-mounted backboards and an electric shot- clock. Using sound-proof curtaining, these courts convert into three separate playing areas, which can deliver six volleyball or 12 badminton courts. This enables a fully-flexible sports programme for all age-groups.

On the mezzanine floor, there is a gym, dance studio and classroom, and a rock climbing wall will soon be installed. Downstairs, the building houses a café, and there are observation points throughout.

Outside, the new football fields are floodlit and use the latest artificial turf technology. When compared to natural surfaces, artificial turf has many benefits: the most important being durability, particularly during heavy rain, leading to increased playability without any compromises on safety. Set up primarily as two seven-a-side pitches, the fields will convert to 11-a-side size, with playing dimensions of 80m x 55m. There will be a sheltered viewing area for spectators.

BSJ has reviewed its sports and activities programme to capitalise on these new facilities. The School continues to embrace its responsibilities towards the city of Jakarta and its residents, so, when not used by students, these new facilities will one day be available for the wider community to hire.