Sports Hall of Fame: South London

• By Ellen O'Riordan on Mar 30, 2016

Sports Hall of Fame: South London

The chameleon of sports facilities, the sports hall will bend to your many sporting wishes.  Whether you want to spread yourselves across the entire room for a game of football, or prefer to erect a net in a humble corner for a badminton match.  They’re reasonably cheap to hire as they are low maintenance venues, and what’s more there are loads of them.  South London has some of the best sports halls on offer, with many well funded schools opening their doors to public hire. Here is our pick of the crop for you to try out.

Pimlico Academy

This generously sized sports hall features extensive marking, to cover a plethora of sporting activities.  It fits four badminton courts (although does not supply nets), a basketball court, netball court and five-a-side pitch. It also has good quality cricket nets and is suitable for archery.  The floors are always immaculate and equipment is in great condition.  The hall is available for hire Monday to Friday between 18:10 and 21:20 and on weekend between 09:00 and 17:00.  The entire hall is £50 per hour and booking enquiries can be made online at http://www.schoolsplus.co.uk/pimlico/contact/venue-enquiry/

Nearest Station:  Pimlico Tube

Marcus Lipton Youth Hub

Located in the Brixton and Loughborough area, the centre has a thriving sports and youth community and is particularly popular with netball players.  The Sports Hall is a large, bright space, always well maintained, and marked out for football, basketball, badminton and netball.  It also has equipment, such as nets and goals for each of the sports.  There is free parking and changing rooms on site, meaning that it’s an ideal place to come straight from work.  The hub is open 10am until 10pm Monday to Friday and 10am until 5pm on Saturdays and 5pm until 10pm on Sundays.  Also on site is a dance studio, five-a-side football pitch, multi-use open space, a relaxing cafe area, gym, computer room and a music studio.  

Nearest Station: Loughborough Junction Train Station or Brixton Tube

London Southbank University

The university’s sports hall is the Sport England recommended size (33mx18m) suitable for a range of activities including five-a-side football, tennis, badminton, netball, cricket, volley ball, table tennis and basketball.  It also has three ring areas designated for Taekwondo.  Prices are increased during peak times; to hire out the full hall is £60 (£90 peak), half the hall is £30 (£45 peak) and a single court is £12 (£16 peak).  Also in the vicinity is a fully equipped dance studio, a free weights room and a functional training zone.  To make a booking contact the Academy of Sport reception on 0207 815 7812 or sportscentre@lsbu.ac.uk.