The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome, previously known as the ILT Velodrome and also known as the Invercargill Velodrome, is an indoor

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

located in

Surrey Park Surrey Park is a major sports venue, located in the Invercargill, New Zealand suburb of Glengarry, 2 km to the east of the city centre. Surrey Park's facilities include three rugby grounds, three football grounds, four softball pitches, ...

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

, Southland,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is next door to the

ILT Stadium Southland ILT Stadium Southland, also called Southland Arena, is an indoor arena and multi-purpose venue located in Surrey Park, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand. It was originally the home venue of the Southern Sting netball team. It currently ser ...

and is part of the same complex. It is the main home venue of Cycling Southland and it serves as a training facility for three Invercargill sporting franchises –

Southland Stags Rugby Southland (formerly the Southland Rugby Football Union) is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the u ...

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are know ...

and

Southern Steel Southern Steel may refer to: * Southern Steel (netball) Southern Steel are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 ANZ Championship season, 2008 and 2016 ANZ Championship season, 2016, they played ...

. The velodrome was originally opened in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. The venue is owned by Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust.

Invercargill Licensing Trust The Invercargill Licensing Trust, (ILT), is a licensing trust in the city of Invercargill in New Zealand. It has a monopoly on the development of premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages, and associated accommodation in the city, a ...

previously held the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

. Since 2013, they have been held by the

Southern Institute of Technology The Southern Institute of Technology (SIT; ) is a public tertiary education institution (NZ TEI), established in 1971. It is one of New Zealand's largest institutions of technology, with 12,579 enrolees in 2021, contributing to a total of ...

Facilities

The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome features permanent seating for 1,064 with views available all around the fully carpeted concourse. In the middle of the cycling track is a pillar-less flat floor area of 2195 square metres comprising three full-size multi-sport courts with a

Rebound Ace Rebound Ace is a cushioned tennis hardcourt composed of polyurethane rubber, fiberglass, and other materials on top of an asphalt or reinforced concrete base. It is manufactured and sold by California Products Corporation's Sports Surfaces divisio ...

surface. Motorised nets surround the courts which allow for the track and courts to be utilised at the same time. There is a training facility in the centre of the velodrome where all three local sporting franchises,

and

are able to train.

History

Construction

In 2003, a joint proposal from Cycling Southland and

Stadium Southland ILT Stadium Southland, also called Southland Arena, is an indoor arena and multi-purpose venue located in Surrey Park, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand. It was originally the home venue of the Southern Sting netball team. It currently se ...

was put together to develop a velodrome in

. Cycling enthusiasts, including Graham Sycamore, had long advocated for the establishment of a velodrome in

. Ray Harper subsequently chaired the Stadium Southland Extension Project. In 2005 construction began with German track designer, Ralph Schuermann, as the main designer, while Calder Stewart Industries were appointed as the project design and build company. The entire project was completed in 57 weeks, with 150 tonnes of track timber and equipment shipped from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

via ship. The six containers were then transported by road to Invercargill from Dunedin. The project cost

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

11 million to complete. On 26 May 2006, the velodrome was officially opened by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

Sarah Ulmer Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer (born 14 March 1976) is a New Zealand former competitive cyclist. She is the first New Zealander to win an Olympic cycling gold medal, which she won in the 3km individual pursuit at the 2004 Athens Olympics setting a wor ...

subsequently became the first cyclist to officially ride the new velodrome.

Cycling

Between 2006 and 2014, the velodrome served as the home of

Cycling New Zealand Cycling New Zealand (), originally known as BikeNZ, is the national governing body for cycling organisations in New Zealand, and represents the interests of BMX NZ, Cycling New Zealand Road & Track, Mountain Bike NZ, and Cycling New Zealand Sch ...

. However it was subsequently replaced by

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

's Avantidrome. The velodrome hosted the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships. It has also hosted several Oceania Track Championships as well as Cycling Southland and Cycling New Zealand competitions. The velodrome has helped develop several leading local cyclists, including

Eddie Dawkins Edward James Dawkins (born 11 July 1989) is a New Zealand track cyclist. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games he won the silver medal in the men's sprint and the bronze medal in the men's 1 kilometre time trial. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won ...

Natasha Hansen Natasha Hansen (born 15 November 1989) is a New Zealand track cyclist who has represented her country at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. Hansen competed at the 2018 Gold Coast games and won two silver medals in the sprint & team sprint, an ...

Tom Scully Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally s ...

and

Alison Shanks Alison Shanks (born 13 December 1982) is a retired New Zealand professional racing cyclist, specialising in the individual pursuit and team pursuit in track cycling and individual time trial in road bicycle racing. Prior to that she was an Ota ...

. Between 2018 and 2023, the velodrome served as home of the Southern Performance Hub, developing cyclists aged between 15 and 22.

Southern Steel

Three netball courts are situated inside the velodrome. During the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

seasons, while

was unavailable following a roof collapse in September 2010,

played their

home games at the velodrome.

Southland Sharks

Between

and

, the velodrome also served as the temporary home venue for

of New Zealand's National Basketball League.

Events hosted

Naming rights sponsor

Gallery

File:ILT Velodrome.PNG, Between

and

, the ILT Velodrome served as

's temporary home. File:Stadium Southland.png, Satellite view of

featuring the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome (right) and

. File:U.S. Ambassador Brown visits Southland, September 2018.jpg, September 2018: U.S. Ambassador,

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...

(second from right) and Invercargill MP Sarah Dowie (left) visit the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome.

References

{{Invercargill 2006 establishments in New Zealand Cycle racing in New Zealand Sports venues in New Zealand Velodromes Southern Steel Netball venues in New Zealand Sports venues in Invercargill 2000s architecture in New Zealand Basketball venues in New Zealand