“It is great to see this iconic pitch going to a city that has
such an enviable sporting history.”
Richard Lewis, Sport England Chair.
The blue artificial turf with its brilliant pink
surround, nicknamed the ‘smurf turf’, will make a 163 mile journey
north from the Riverbank Arena to its new home Abbeydale Sports
Club in Sheffield.
As part of their Legacy Agreement, the London Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) kindly
donated the pitch free of charge. Sport England has provided
£40,000 of funding towards the installation of the pitch at its new
home, with England Hockey and Abbeydale Sports Club in partnership
with Sheffield Hallam University - one of four National Performance
Centres for hockey – also committing funding to see the dream of
bringing a piece of the London 2012 Olympics to the North of
England.
“It is great to see this iconic pitch going to a city that has
such an enviable sporting history,” said Richard Lewis, Sport
England Chair. “The London 2012 Olympic Games produced such
memorable moments and now generations of hockey players in
Yorkshire will be able to emulate their hockey heroes by playing on
the same pitch as them. By investing in its installation we
are ensuring a lasting legacy by helping people create a sporting
habit for life.”
Sally Munday, Chief Operating Officer of Great Britain Hockey,
added, “The pink and blue pitch was one of the major landmarks of
Olympic Park – it isn’t very often that hockey gets so much
coverage for a pitch, but the pink and blue surface caused a huge
amount of interest and made for an excellent spectator experience.
Legacy is a word which is spoken about often, but for us to have
the opportunity to help to spread the Olympic legacy outside of
London is incredibly important. We are pleased to see a community
club such as Sheffield Hockey Club offer a home to this iconic
pitch and utilise the opportunity to continue to offer hockey to
thousands of players of all ages and levels of ability.”
The Sainsbury’s 2013 School Games will be the first major event
to be hosted on the blue pitch at Abbeydale Sports Club. The
arrival of the turf will make for an exciting and fitting curtain
raiser with the Sainsbury’s School Games aiming to create an
inspirational and motivational setting for the UK’s elite young
sports people each year.
Speaking of the decision to donate the pitch, Seb Coe, LOCOG
Chair said, "We always intended to re-use as much as we could of
our Games facilities and equipment. This is an example of the
legacy of London 2012. We were delighted to donate the famous blue
pitch and its pink surround to such a good new home at the
Abbeydale Sports Club. The pitch will be used by both the local
community and elite hockey players as well as for the School Games.
It will also give the Club a piece of Olympic history."
The search for a new home for Olympic pitch began shortly after
the London 2012 Games with over 40 applications submitted by
providers in a position to install a specialist hockey surface. The
applications were assessed by an experienced capital group, which
included representatives from across Great Britain Hockey.
Welcoming the news of his club’s success, Roger Lomas, Director
of Abbeydale Sports Club, said, “This is tremendously exciting. We
look forward to users of our facility being inspired by playing on
the very turf used at the 2012 Olympic Games. In particular, the
Yorkshire National Performance Centre, our National League, senior
and junior teams, Sheffield Hallam University and regional junior
performance players from the area. We are grateful for the
financial support of Sport England, England Hockey and Sheffield
Hallam University and the ongoing support from the suppliers Sports
Technology International and LOCOG in making this possible for
us.”
The pitch will be removed from Olympic Park this Friday (23
November 2012) and stored until next spring when it will be
installed in Sheffield.