Costa Navarino enhances sports offering with more experiences than ever

By Emily Kay 2 weeks ago

The International Olympic Academy Golf Course welcomes the Olympic Flame – the first golf course in the Mediterranean to host the Olympic symbol

Costa Navarino, the sustainably driven destination in Greece’s southwest Peloponnese, is celebrating the Olympic Games 2024 with landmark events and enhances its sports offering, with a new summer camp and the return of the NBA Basketball School.

On April 17, Costa Navarino proudly welcomed the Olympic Flame at the world’s first International Olympic Academy Golf Course, as part of the flame’s journey from Greece to Paris. It is the first golf course in the Mediterranean to ever host the Olympic symbol. The 18-hole signature golf course symbolises the links between golf and Olympism, as it is the nearest golf development to Ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games. The naming of course also reflects the International Olympic Academy, Hellenic Olympic Committee and Costa Navarino’s shared values of sustainability, personal welfare, education, and growth. Two young athletes from the Navarino Junior Golf Academy acted as torchbearers.

To celebrate the spirit of the Olympics, Costa Navarino will introduce a new five-day sports camp for children and teenagers aged six to 15, from July 15 to August 16. The camp will give them the chance to try their hand at ten different sports which feature in the Olympic Games. The aspiring athletes will receive expert coaching in golf, tennis, basketball, football, archery, climbing, beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, and water polo. The basketball and football sessions will be led by coaches from the NBA Basketball School and Bayern FC respectively, while qualified coaches will oversee the other sports.

Sports enthusiasts can further develop their skills at the NBA Basketball School which returns at Costa Navarino for its second year of operation, with an engaging program for players of all ages. The NBA Basketball School will run from May 27 to September 15. Young players from six to 18 years old will live the NBA experience in three to seven-day camp programmes, while adults can participate in daily one-hour activities. All participants will receive an NBA branded T-shirt upon registration, and participants who attend the full programme (six or seven days) will receive an NBA Basketball School certificate and NBA gift. For the period from June 30 to August 17, participants will have the exclusive opportunity to train with the NBA veteran and first-round draft pick, Michael Bradley, who will join as full-time camp director.

Whilst children are training, adults can also participate in a range of sports including tennis, padel and pickleball at the Mouratoglou Tennis Center, wakeboard, SUP yoga, kitesurfing, sailing and diving in clear blue water, as well as enjoy the Messinian lush nature through hiking, cycling, climbing.

Costa Navarino is a 45 minute-drive from Kalamata International Airport. Easyjet flies direct to Kalamata from London Gatwick three times a week from April to November. British Airways has four direct flights a week from London Heathrow between May and October. Jet2 has twice-weekly direct flights from Birmingham, London Stansted and Manchester from May to November, while Ryanair flies weekly from London Stansted between June and September.

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