Norwich city centre hockey club, Norwich Dragons Hockey Club gets a 2nd Pitch at the Den in 2014. The Central Norwich Hockey Consortium, a charity created by The Hewett School, Town Close School and Norwich Dragons Hockey Club, to provide opportunities for playing hockey in the centre of Norwich, are delighted to announce a major investment to achieve the second phase of development of the new hockey centre on part of The Hewett School grounds at Hall Road, Norwich.
Having completed the construction of the first state of the art hockey astro turf in 2011, which was opened by GB Olympian and Town Close School old boy Richard ‘Ratman’ Alexander, the Consortium has been seeking investors for the planned second hockey pitch, which has now been secured through a partnership with the London based Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST). The GDST is the largest educational charity in the country and is the group to which local independent school Norwich High School for Girls belongs, one of 26 schools the Trust operates nationally.
Hockey players of all ages and skill levels have seen the benefit of the first £600,000 all-weather hockey pitch in the heart of Norwich, however, demand very quickly exceeded the opportunities provided by one pitch, with waiting lists having to be imposed at the community based Norwich Dragons Hockey Club and no space for other schools to play hockey during the school day.
Mike Hardy, President of Norwich Dragons Hockey Club said: “Since the opening of the first hockey pitch, just two years ago, we have seen the interest in hockey at our city centre club exceed all expectations, making it necessary to bring forward plans to develop the second pitch at the site.
Our enthusiastic and dedicated pool of qualified coaches work hard in the community, encouraging youngsters to get involved in the sport, which has seen a massive increase in membership. Following a hugely successful season for the adult sides, with four teams crowned Champions and two others achieving promotion, for the second successive season we have increased the adult teams by one for each of the men and ladies. As a result, it will not be possible to host all home matches at the Den this season, so the second pitch is key to our continued growth. Work on the new pitch is scheduled to start in the Spring of 2014.
We have a significant number of club members across all age groups that attend Norwich High School for Girls, so we are very excited about developing this relationship further with the construction of the second pitch.”
Jason Morrow, Headmaster of Norwich High School for Girls said: “We are delighted to be involved in this partnership which creates opportunities for local schools and the community, through Norwich Dragons Hockey Club, to have access to fantastic facilities and coaching in the sport of hockey. As a school we place huge importance on our girls having the opportunity to participate in sport, both competitively and for recreation and fitness. We are so proud of current and former pupils achieving at the highest level at a county and international level and this major investment in the second pitch at the Hall Road site will allow us to strengthen further the opportunities in hockey for our pupils and the wider community. The recent success of our Under 15 team winning the national GDST hockey championships shows the progress our girls are making in the sport and a local pitch will benefit the girls immensely.”
Graeme Lowe, Headmaster of Town Close School said: “Having set out plans several years ago for the development of a two pitch hockey centre on the Hewett site, we have been working hard to find an appropriate partner to develop the second pitch. We already enjoy many good relationships with Norwich High School for Girls, so it was natural that they should be considered and following several meetings and discussions, we are pleased to reach an agreement that makes this possible. Town Close School has an outstanding reputation for hockey with plenty of our youngsters keen to follow in Richard Alexander’s footsteps.”
Pat Andrews, Governor of the Hewett School has been working hard for many years with fellow Governors to see the land being put to community sports use: “To see this site go from a derelict cinder running track to a first class two pitch hockey facility, with plans for a purpose built clubhouse as phase three of the project is very rewarding for the Hewett Governors and brings benefits to our pupils and the local community alike.”