Magazine - New Water-Turf Development at Invercargill's Turnbull Thomson Park.

By Editor in Hockey on 16th May 2009 6:00

High School hockey has been given a boost by the new water-turf development at Invercargill's Turnbull Thomson Park.

Four extra school teams have been added to this year's competition, bringing the total number up to 18 teams, which are split into three divisions.

Hockey Southland general manager Carol Baer said the competition, which is held on Monday and Tuesday nights, had traditionally been split into boys and girls sections. "We now have boys and mixed. Some of the girls teams are definitely at the level where they can foot it against the boys and some of the boys team are at that level where they are better in mixed," she said.

While the tournament had been running for many years, the advent of the $3.8 million development had meant it did not have to be split between Invercargill and Mataura.

Two water turfs featuring the same technology as that used at the Beijing Olympics will put the venue in line to host national tournaments and international tests, and provide the sport a chance to grow locally.

Hockey Southland chairwoman Penny Simmonds said replacing existing sand base turfs at Queens Park and Mataura was inevitable.

"We always knew that they had a limited lifespan, like 10 to 12 years, so both of them have lasted well beyond their lifespan." The introduction of water turfs to New Zealand about 10 years ago made the old surface increasingly obsolete. "It's got to the stage where the New Zealand federation was saying you can't get tournaments unless you have at least one water turf," Simmonds said.

While sand is a faster surface, water turfs have a more consistent nature and allow players to slide and dive without fear of losing half their skin.

"From as long as 10 years ago we knew that this was the stage we would need to get to. The real planning for it started two and a half years ago when I wrote to Hockey Southland, I wasn't involved or on the board then, asking if I could drive a committee to convert our sand turfs to water turfs." In 2006 the project turned into an amibitious $12 million idea of building three covered water turfs.

"While it was a wonderful concept, it was way beyond the capabilities of our funders and way beyond the capability of our association to make it operationally viable," Simmonds said.

Water-based hockey turfs, on which international and Olympic level matches are played, require water-canons to wet the surface prior to a game to produce a playing surface that is smoother than dry surfaces

Source & More: www.stuff.co.nz
By NATHAN BURDON

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