Nash Opens Second Sports Club in Richmond
Over 100 devoted fans were in attendance on Thursday as Victoria's own Steve Nash officially opened the second Steve Nash Sports Club on St. Edwards Drive in Richmond. This facility follows his first Sports Club which opened on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver in 2007.
The new facility includes over 55,000 feet of space, state of the art equipment, a swimming pool with sauna and whirlpool, massage services, an indoor tennis complex and coming soon - a cafe featuring Jugo Juice. The centre is also child friendly as the facility includes a kid’s zone.
The downtown location, which has seen success in its short time of operation, is much smaller in size compared to the new facility, as the overall space of the Granville location is nearly 20,000 feet less than the one in Richmond.
The two time NBA MVP is pleased with the success that the first Steve Nash Sports Club has had, as along with the new Richmond facility, another is said to be coming to South Surrey's Morgan Crossing neighborhood. No information has been released on when or if a centre will be built on Vancouver Island.
These sports centers are just another notch on Nash's humanitarian belt, as some of his other volunteer efforts include creating the Steve Nash Foundation in 2001, donating a street ball court to the City of Victoria at Crystal Pool in 2006 and taking over Vince Carter's Charity Basketball Game from 2005 to 2007.
His newest charity game has moved from the court to the pitch however, as Nash co-hosted the first annual Showdown in Chinatown in 2008, an 8-on-8 charity soccer game held at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in New York City. Participants included soccer star Thierry Henry, along with fellow NBA players Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa.
Following the success of the event last year, 2009 will include both a game in New York City, which took place on June 24, and a second in Vancouver at David Lam Park on September 19.
