Hockey legend Val Robinson OBE joined players, coaches, volunteers and club officials at Blackburn Northern Hockey Club as it celebrated the official opening of its new astroturf pitch on March 11th. The £446,108 funding for the all new pitch has come from Sport England’s Community Club Development Fund.

It is a double celebration for the club which has been promoting sport in Blackburn with Darwen for over 100 years.

The pitch has been created next to Blackburn Northern Sports Club, on part of the Pleckgate High School site. The school and Blackburn with Darwen Council are partners in its development. The new pitch means that hockey players can now train and play together at the club – previously they had to travel four miles across Blackburn.

Blackburn Northern sports club is a multi-sport club with facilities for cricket, squash and tennis as well as hockey. There are indoor facilities, modern changing rooms and a newly refurbished clubhouse on site – which the hockey teams can now use.

Hockey in the area is set to boom. There are over 130,000 people in Blackburn with Darwen, and up until now few opportunities for young people to play the game. The club runs a number of junior coaching courses and supports Blackburn with Darwen Council in developing teams for the Lancashire Youth Games. It is providing coaching sessions in the high school and across local primary schools. It will help local teaching staff gain access to coach education courses, with the support of the National Governing Body, England Hockey. The club has recently registered for the England Hockey’s Club Accreditation Mark.

Stewart Kellett, Sport England Regional Director says; ‘This investment of over £440,000 in the new pitch means that hockey can be played all year round, on a competition-ready surface. It has been achieved through the hard work and commitment of the club, the support of the council and Pleckgate High School.  Now that players can play and train near to changing and club facilities, it will enable the club to encourage more young players into the sport. Having excellent community club facilities is important locally, for the region and nationally as Hockey is one of our most successful sports.’

Day of celebration

The action packed day bullied off at 10am with a coaching session for under 13s. Followed at 11am with mini-tournaments for the under 13s, and under 11 players.

At 14.30 England players past and present entertained guests as they challenged Blackburn players old and new in an All Star Hockey Match.

The club has been at the heart of sport in Blackburn for a century. It has fostered strong links with local schools and community groups.

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Why Hockey clubs are moving to Astroturf surfaces:

‘The game is now played almost exclusively on artificial grass pitches. They offer a greatly improved surface compared to the traditional grass pitches, which were often the winter reincarnation of cricket fields. As more artificial pitches were developed during the 1980’s, many hockey clubs moved away from grounds shared with cricket clubs and migrated to sites that offered the use of an artificial pitch. Today there are many clubs that use and often share local authority owned facilities.  Several clubs have been able to develop specialist facilities often in partnership within larger sports clubs.

The evolution of the playing surface from grass to artificial pitches saw the game change dramatically, with players able to control the ball more easily.  The range of skills demonstrated and the speed of the ball has made hockey a faster and more exciting game. In recent years, pitches have developed further with water being used as a shock absorber.’ England Hockey