Enka SK

Enka Spor Kulübü, commonly called Enkaspor, is a multi-sport club founded in 1983 in Istanbul by the Turkish construction firm Enka Construction Co. The club focuses on athletics, water polo, tennis, and swimming, and as of December 2010 had 353 active female and 467 active male athletes. Its facilities are housed in the Sadi Gülçelik Sport Complex, a 120,000-square-meter site in the İstinye neighborhood of Sarıyer. The complex includes an athletics field with six tartan tracks, a multi-purpose arena with three courts for basketball, volleyball, or handball, an Olympic-size swimming pool that can be covered in winter, a semi-Olympic covered pool, a covered 12-lane pool for swimming and water polo, and twelve tennis courts—six training courts (four of which can be covered), two open courts, and three covered courts.

Enkaspor has been instrumental in bringing foreign athletes to compete for Turkey, including Elvan Abeylegesse, Anzhela Atroshchenko, Sviatlana Sudak, and Alemitu Bekele, all of whom have achieved success at international events. Many club members hold Turkish national records in their respective sports. In 2010, the senior men’s and women’s teams both became Turkey champions, while the junior men’s and women’s teams finished as runners-up.

Notable athletes associated with the club include swimmers Yiğit Aslan, Beril Böcekler, Viktoriya Zeynep Güneş, Sudem Denizli, Defne Tanığ, Belis Şakar, and Merve Tuncel; tennis players Çağla Büyükakçay (the first Turkish woman to play a Grand Slam singles qualifying tournament and win a WTA singles title), Melis Sezer (the first Turkish junior woman to compete at Wimbledon and the US and Australian Opens), and İpek Soylu (winner of the 2016 WTA Elite Trophy); track and field athletes Elvan Abeylegesse, Meryem Akda, Ramazan Baştuğ, Meryem Bekmez, Yasemin Can, Tuğba Danışmaz, Evin Demir, Binnaz Uslu, Pınar Saka, Merve Aydın, Buse Savaşkan, Aysel Önder, and Can Özüpek; and freestyle wrestler Mehlika Öztürk.