St Andrew’s School is receiving a major upgrade to its hockey facilities, as the ground has ceremoniously been broken to announce the launch of their Astroturf project. While the actual groundbreaking will only start in June, this marks a significant step in the right direction for a project that is more than 20 years in the making.
“The first soil sample was taken in June of 2000, on ‘Cabbage Patch’, intending to put an Astro up in the same year,” explained Cheryl Zietsman, former head of Saints hockey. “The University, however, came with a proposal to schools, with Saints being one of the schools who could use their Astro for practices.” This placed the project on ice for several years, with the school opting to rent the University of the Free State’s facilities, over building their own. It did not mean that the project was out of mind, with Zietsman confirming that the idea was always in the back of the mind of several board members and staff.
This year, St Andrew’s has over 33 teams between grades one and twelve, and the Astroturf will serve over 380 boys once it is completed. The school also boasts 48 players who have been selected to represent the Southern Free State in various age groups. Trevor Raubenheimer, who is the new Saints head of hockey, said the project has a “six-month completion timeline, with an opening tournament planned once the final opening date has been confirmed”.
He also hopes “the younger guys will benefit from the Astro the most because it’s more for the development of the younger boys”.
Raubenheimer wants the school to host major festivals once the project has been completed, “it will now be a possibility for us to host tournaments and festivals,” he said, and listed festivals like the Independent Schools hockey festival, Inter-provincial tournament, and the SA Top Schools tournament as potential events to be held at St Andrew’s in future.
Funding for the project came from the School Governing Body (SGB), Standard Bank, the PTA, learners, and the Old Boys’ Association. “The Astro has always been in the works, and now the new board members have managed to get things going; with special thanks going to current SGB chairman Brendan Jacobs, former chairman, John Blair, André Bothma, and the help of Standard Bank,” said Zietsman.
Warren Hawkins
[email protected]
