News

When Gravesham Sports Trust decided that their partly sub-sided 20 year old hockey pitch needed replacing, they decided to choose a FastPro HF18 surface from FIH Preferred Supplier, CCGrass. Installed in the summer of 2019 by contractors PST Sport, the pitch, pre-lockdown, had been well used by the local club, schools and wider community.

Pitch specialists, PST Sport re-levelled the pitch base and installed a new, dense shockpad before the two-tone green FastPro HF turf was laid on top.

When speaking with Simon Chapman, the Chair of Gravesham & Wellcome HC/Gravesham Sports Trust, we asked how much the hockey pitch has been used and for his feedback. “Despite the shortened hockey season due to Covid-19, the 3 hockey clubs that use Gravesend, as their home pitch, have managed to play about 5 months of hockey on the new sand dressed hockey pitch.

‘As Chairman of Gravesham & Wellcome Hockey Club and also Gravesham Sports Trust (the charity that manages the pitch), I can say that since the first time the pitch was used, during our opening ceremony, right up until the last game played, I have received so many positive comments – not only from members of the home clubs but also from the visiting teams.”

As previously mentioned, the playing surface features the FastPro HF yarn which is an 8000 dtex curly fibre, produced specifically for hockey. The CCGrass one stop extrusion process for texturised yarn, means FastPro HF18 is resilient and stable with more consistent curls, for better non-directional ball roll.

When asked to comment on how the pitch plays, Simon responded, “The pitch plays very fast and true –  especially when wet.  Players know that an accurate pass can be performed the length of the pitch and the ball does not deviate.  The bounce of the pitch is perfect – any aerial balls are quickly brought under control after the first bounce.”

Simon finished off by saying “Everyone looks forward to continuing to play hockey for many years to come on this exceptional pitch. If anyone is in the Gravesend neighbourhood feel free to contact me should you wish to have a quick look around.”

Our thanks to Simon Chapman for his comments.