Governments pitch in for second synthetic hockey field at UWA

The Federal and Western Australian Governments are to fund the building of a second synthetic turf hockey pitch at the University of Western Australia (UWA) Sports Park in Mount Claremont.

Federal Minister for Sport Kate Lundy and Western Australian Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron announced last week that the Federal and State Governments will each contribute $500,000 to the project, matching UWA's contribution, which includes the use of the land at UWA Sports Park. The Western Australian Government will also provide an additional $45,000 for lighting.

UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said the University was pleased to be partnering with the Federal and State Governments to provide essential support for the ongoing development of hockey in Western Australia.

Professor Johnson explained "the installation of a second synthetic turf pitch will have immediate and longer term benefits for the local community as well as our top-level players.

"It will provide an additional training venue for elite teams while also enabling us to host national and international tournaments and increase the capacity of UWA Sports Park as a hockey venue.

"This will ensure the sport can continue to grow and further encourage young sports people to reach their potential."

Professor Johnson said Western Australia had a long, strong and proud tradition of producing national and international hockey champions, adding "UWA is particularly proud that Australia's national team, the Kookaburras, will feature the talents of UWA graduate Ric Charlesworth as coach and UWA engineering/commerce student Fergus Kavanagh as a player at next month's Olympic Games in London."

Announcing the Western Australian Government's contribution Minister Waldron stated "the University of Western Australia Hockey Club has more than 1,000 members and is at the point where it has to turn away potential members, many of them juniors.

"This is not an ideal situation, particularly given the impact of obesity on our society. The second turf will give the club some much-needed room to grow and increase the number of people being active through the hugely popular sport of hockey.

"It will also provide other clubs with more opportunities to play on a turf surface."

The new pitch will be built next to the existing UWA hockey clubrooms and is expected to be completed for the 2013 hockey season.

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