Friday, November 8, 2024

3G hockey woes continue on eve of season; council helps Notts club return

Leeds based Boston Spa Hockey Club’s women division is folding ahead of the new season due to 3G issues.

The club’s pitch at Boston Spa Academy is being replaced by a 3G turf, with the women’s division hopeful of relocating to Wetherby High School.

Negotiations with the school and council fell through this month and the club can’t use the pitch as required.

The women’s division is a single team playing in Yorks & North East Div 1, with players coming from all over Yorkshire and the North East, very few being local to Boston Spa.  

READ MORE: 3G pitch plight: The clubs affected in the UK

Club member Helen Baron said: “The additional travel coupled with childcare constraints and some injuries, mean the other pitch locations that were available added too much travel time, that meant they weren’t sustainable for many players.”

“The players that want to continue playing are looking for teams more convenient to their location. The two men’s teams will continue and hopefully thrive, relocating to Energise at Acomb.”

Menwhile, Southwick HC and South Downs HC are losing their astro at Steyning Grammar School, West Sussex. The school is being rebuilt and the current astro is being turned into temporary classrooms. It will take four years to complete, before a 3G pitch is being put down.

Claire Bates, treasurer at South Downs HC, said: “We are in talks with England Hockey and interestingly have found out the DCMS has a target of installing 3G pitches countrywide. 3G is coming from the top down?”

Meanwhile, a local hockey club has been able to return to its roots thanks to collaborative working and intervention from Mansfield District Council and its partners.

North Notts Hockey Club used the Manor Sport & Recreation Centre in Mansfield Woodhouse as its home training pitch for more than 30 years. This was until the pandemic forced the closure of all community pitches.

The Kingsley Avenue complex was run by the Two Counties Trust, which also operates the nearby Manor Academy school. The facility never reopened once the lockdown was lifted. An announcement was then made in 2021 that it would remain permanently closed, leaving the club without a playing facility.

Bringing the club back to the sports complex was made possible thanks to collaboration and support from Two Counties Trust and Nottinghamshire County Council. The county specifically worked with the district council to complete legal paperwork needed to lease directly with the hockey club.

The club has nine senior teams and a junior section, which train and play at the complex three times per week.

The council has also helped to bring the facility back up to scratch and secure its future by providing support for new lighting and electrics, as well as the specialist cleaning of the pitch.

Paul Unwin, Chairman of North Notts Hockey Club, added: “As a club, we are extremely excited to be returning to play hockey at ‘home’ for the first time in four seasons. Having been travelling to Worksop for all this time, being back local again will aid the growth of the club and we look forward to bringing hockey back to the Mansfield region.

“The work that has gone in behind the scenes from all parties has been immense and as a club we cannot thank everyone involved enough for helping us get back to Manor Sports Centre.”

Do you know of any 3G issues affecting your region or club? Please get in touch

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