Tuesday 1st March 2005
Tonbridge School's new water based astro hockey pitch is now ready for use by the school and the community. It could help West Kent Clubs to gain parity with their East Kent counterparts. It was opened by Mr David Coldman, Chairman of the Benfield Group and Deputy Chairman of Lloyds of London, last Sunday. Mr Coldman is also Chairman of the Tonbridge School Foundation.
It is the only hockey pitch of its kind in West Kent and only a few other schools in the country are known to have the latest type of high quality hockey pitch which cuts down the extent of injuries and produces a much smoother and softer playing surface.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council have been enthusiastic about the project from the start and given permission for special floodlighting of the pitch.
The £750,000 needed to build it was in part donated by the School's Foundation and £180,000 was raised by a group of hockey supporting parents led by barrister Tom Shields QC who lives in Langton Green.
Jon Perriss (Master in charge of hockey) writes:
The new pitch, and surrounding warm up area and stand, makes this facility almost unique in the country. I hope that this will be the start of something special, not only for hockey at Tonbridge School, but for the wider community in West Kent. We are very fortunate to be able to coach young people on such a high quality surface.The water based is the latest piece in the school's very impressive outdoor facilities and with the floodlights, can be easily utilised by many of the local clubs and county, regional and even international hockey teams.