New Waterbased Hockey Pitch for Cookstown Hockey Club
Cookstown Hockey Club have announced the start of the construction phase of their new state-of-the-art hockey centre to be located on the grounds of Cookstown High School. This £900k project will see the club fulfil a four year dream of having the first FIH (Federation of International Hockey) accredited Water based hockey pitch west of the River Bann. This pitch will complement the clubs current sand filled pitch also located at Coolnafranky.
The project has received substantial support from the Sport Northern Ireland Building Sport Programme (£660k) and from Cookstown District Council (£90k). The project will commence in June 2009 and it is expected to be complete by October 2009.
Water-based hockey pitches are becoming the standard for elite hockey competitions. The International Hockey Federation currently requires that all international hockey matches are played on water-based pitches, but it is becoming increasingly common for clubs to play on the surface as well. The new pitch will see the number of Water based playing teams in the Ulster Premier League rise to six (Cookstown, Instonians, Banbridge, Annadale, Mossley and Lisnagarvey). It is the clubs aim that it will be considered to host Senior Internationals, along with local cup finals/semi-finals within Ulster Hockey.
The club’s management committee has had previous experience in managing capital development projects, specifically in relation to the club’s current sand-filled pitch, constructed 1994, and their clubhouse which was completed in 2003.
Speaking on the project, Stephen Cuddy, Cookstown Hockey Club Project Manager Stephen Cuddy commented: “This is a very exciting project for the club, we have simply outgrown our current facilities and we made the decision four years ago that if we were going to develop a second pitch it would have to be a water based. At the moment our first eleven have to travel to Belfast every week to gain exposure on the specialist surface. I am excited about having a state of the art facility that the club can be very proud of. We are very grateful with the level of support received from Sport Northern Ireland and Cookstown District Council, without both this project would simply not be feasible. I would also like to thank Helen Donnelly our Sport Northern Ireland Development Officer whose support throughout the project has been invaluable. We also look forward to continuing our excellent partnership with Cookstown High School. Scott Wilson our consultant engineers have come up with an excellent design and we look forward to working with Sports Surfaces from Ballymena who have excellent experience at installing Waterbased pitches all over Ireland. |
Michael Haycock, Head of Physical Education Cookstown High School & First Eleven Coach spoke of the benefit the new facility will make to the school: “The new project will have massive benefits for sport within Cookstown High School. We were the first School in Northern Ireland to have a synthetic pitch in 1994, and now we will be the first to have a water based and sand based located on school grounds. This will result in all our teams being able to practice and train on an artificial surface”.
Trevor Wilson, Chairman Cookstown District Council added: “Cookstown District Council is delighted to have been able to support this innovative initiative taken by Cookstown Hockey Club. The provision of this state of the art water based hockey pitch is the culmination of years of determined work and will provide the location for local, national and international hockey for Mid Ulster for years to come.
This facility, along with the Mid Ulster Sports Arena, will further contribute to the Cookstown District’s position as a centre of excellence for sports provision throughout Northern Ireland”.
Danny O’Connor, Board Member of Sport Northern Ireland commented: “As the lead agency for developing sport in Northern Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland is committed to providing opportunities for people to participate in sport. Quality accessible facilities are essential in encouraging people of all ages and abilities to take part in regular physical activity and sport. This investment demonstrates Sport Northern Ireland’s commitment to improving and creating new facilities which will help support increased participation and to develop sporting talent”.
|
