Case Study: Canterbury Hockey

THE CLIENT: CANTERBURY HOCKEY

Within their strategic plan, The Canterbury Hockey Association has committed to a long-term vision ‘for hockey to be Canterbury’s preferred sport’. To deliver this, the Association aim to offer broad opportunities for hockey participation. They wish to provide opportunities to excel within the sport; and to provide a healthy social environment for participants associated with the game.

Named the largest Hockey New Zealand Association for 2018, the Canterbury Hockey Association membership consists of affiliated clubs and schools.

Based at Harewood, Christchurch, competitions are held year-round, with ages and abilities ranging from the NZ Women’s Hockey team and the Vantage Black Sticks to smaller clubs such as the Fun sticks (under 6-year olds.)

THE CHALLENGE

To deliver on their aims, Canterbury Hockey made a considerable investment into over a dozen new turf playing surfaces. These surfaces are either sand-filled or water-dressed turf surfaces.

Whilst providing a range of surfaces is beneficial to players, it presents a maintenance challenge whereby investment into multiple pieces of equipment to suit the surfaces can be less effective. Not only do many smaller equipment pieces raise expenses, they also make maintenance more time-consuming to complete.

THE SOLUTION

A recommendation for the SMG SportChamp came from the installers of the turf surfaces – Polytan – who have been installing athletic surfaces for over 50 years.

“We’re really proud to be able to offer an efficient solution to organisations like the Canterbury Hockey Association who are dedicated to raising the profile of their sport, and the quality of playing surfaces in New Zealand” said Parkland Products’ National Equipment Manager, Craig Johnston.

“In addition to having a great international reputation for artificial turf cleaning, the SportChamp has cleaning attachments for both sand and water-based turfs, thereby minimising the maintenance investment required to keep these surfaces at optimal playing performance” said Rod Templeton, Chief Executive of the Canterbury Hockey Association.