UC Santa Barbara will host ParalympicsGB ahead of the LA 2028 Paralympic Games. The team’s Preparation Camp at UCSB is expected to be one of its largest ever. A contract signing was held on campus Friday, Nov. 21.
“This partnership is a profound opportunity,” said UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Dennis Assanis. “It allows us to open our doors and our facilities to some of the planet’s most inspiring athletes. It is a chance for our students, or staff and our community to witness their preparation firsthand. It is a moment for us to champion inclusion, access and the high performance that defines the Paralympic movement.
“As we look ahead to the summer of 2028, we are immensely excited to be the host campus, the training and preparation ground, for ParalympicsGB on their journey to the LA 2028 Paralympic Games,” Assanis continued. “We pledge to provide an environment that is supportive, stimulating and absolutely world-class, ensuring that when the team departs for Los Angeles, they are primed for success.”
ParalympicsGB chief executive officer David Clarke and Penny Briscoe, chief of mission for LA 2028, joined Chancellor Assanis to formally sign the agreement allowing ParalympicsGB to use the university’s world-class facilities in the build-up to the LA 2028 Paralympic Games, scheduled for Aug. 15-27 of that year.
“I am absolutely delighted to be able to call UC Santa Barbara home for the British team as our all-important Preparation Camp in the build-up to the LA 2028 Paralympic Games,” said Clarke. “Of course, accessibility is key to so much of what we do, and I am particularly pleased that this is also at the heart of UC Santa Barbara’s culture, with its Disabled Students Program, local disability sports groups, partnerships, accessible changing rooms, dining and accommodations all readily available.”
ParalympicsGB was represented in 19 of the 22 sports at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with paraclimbing added to the program for LA 2028. Most of the sports selected to represent the British team are expected to train at UCSB before competing at the Games. Several performance leads have already enjoyed productive visits to the campus and surrounding area.
Located on the spectacular Pacific coast about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, UCSB’s picturesque campus spans 1,055 acres and is home to around 24,600 students. The university’s distinguished faculty includes Nobel laureates, winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, recipients of Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships and many other prestigious honors. Academy Award-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas, musician Jack Johnson, NBA champions Ajay Mitchell and Brian Shaw, and Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak are among UCSB’s prominent alumni.
ParalympicsGB will have access to four sports halls, four weight rooms, 12 tennis courts, two swimming pools, multiple studios and meeting spaces and the Pauley athletics track among UCSB Recreation’s state-of-the-art sports facilities, as well as Campus Point beach, on-site accessible housing, lounges and dining facilities — all of which require no modifications for disabled access.
The wide variety of facilities available — connected by an accessible network of roads, paths and bike lanes — means more ParalympicsGB sports than ever before will have the opportunity to train at a single venue ahead of the games.
“We first visited the UC Santa Barbara campus over two years ago and were immediately struck not only by the incredible facilities, but by the friendly, welcoming environment not just at the university but in the wider community too,” said Clarke. “I believe ParalympicsGB’s athletes and staff will thrive here and I look forward to further developing our relationship with the university in the coming months and years.”
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