Reading coverage about 3G pitches, banning of rubber infill and relaying pitches as 3G instead of Astro for hockey is so sad. However, I wanted to share with you my local hockey clubs experience which has been a happy one, writes Ashley Harrison.
Both my daughters play for Southend & Benfleet Ladies HC in Essex and I have been roped in to be the website admin, whilst also managing the women’s 2’s team.
Last March the club were informed that the school, whose astro pitch the club play on, would be relaid.
As with lots of clubs, this meant a great deal of uncertainty as no one from the school could confirm what surface it was being relaid with. As we have seen, many are being turned into 3G pitches due to the financial advantages it creates.
Fortunately, a while later I was able to find out through a friend who teaches PE at the school that it was going to remain an astro pitch when relaid.
This was a great relief to the club given we have very few of these surfaces left in the area. However, until it was actually being laid we kept our fingers crossed and breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the surface.
Although it took some getting used to as it was more bouncy than our old pitch, everyone is really pleased with the outcome. Perhaps it’s helped our 1’s and 2’s as they both finished second and been promoted in their respective divisions (East Area Women’s Division 3 South East & Division 4 South East).
