Adelaide Thunderbirds and 36ers gain training edge at new Mile End SASI

The new South Australian Sports Institute in Adelaide’s Mile End precinct opened to the public on 30 March 2025, giving the Adelaide Thunderbirds, Adelaide Lightning and Adelaide 36ers immediate access to purpose-built training spaces.

The timing matters because the three clubs can now integrate daily sessions in the same high-performance environment that state programs use to identify and develop athletes heading toward Olympic, Paralympic and world championship events. Local teams gain a consistent home base instead of relying on scattered venues across the city.

The facility sits inside Adelaide’s growing Mile End sports precinct, alongside the Australian Centre for Sports Aerodynamics, Beach Volleyball National Training Centre, SA Athletics Stadium and SA Netball Centre. Work on a separate $92 million netball and indoor sports building will start soon in the same area.

Investment and construction details

The State Government put $68 million into the project while UniSA contributed $20 million for its Sports Science Hub on the second floor, according to the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Construction ran from February 2023 to September 2024 and supported nearly 150 jobs on site. Around 120 staff now work from the completed building.

Key spaces include a strength and conditioning gym with five-lane synthetic turf testing tracks and an anti-gravity treadmill, an environmental chamber that varies temperature, oxygen and humidity, a full-size sprung timber court, an ergometer area for rowing and canoe programs, physiology labs, and a recovery centre with hot and cold pools plus dual saunas. These resources are already shared with allied health partners and university students.

Next steps for clubs and athletes

Adelaide-based teams can now schedule regular access to the biomechanics and exercise physiology laboratories for movement analysis and recovery monitoring. The Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing notes that the precinct will continue to attract national and international athletes, with recent examples including world tour cyclist Cameron Wurf and Japan’s men’s beach volleyball squad choosing Adelaide for training blocks. Local clubs should contact SASI directly to book court time and lab sessions as the 2026 season approaches.