Olympic Gold Medallist opens new world-class hockey pitch constructed by Smith Construction

Pupils and staff at Malvern College were thrilled to welcome Lily Owsley MBE, GB Hockey player and Rio Olympics Gold Medallist, to officially open their new international standard hockey pitch on Saturday 18^th March, which will further support the College’s highly successful competitive sports programme.

Smith Construction (Heckington) Ltd constructed the £800,000 water-based hockey pitch last year as part of the College’s ongoing multi-million pound investment in academic, creative and supporting excellence – it will also benefit the local school community, and club and district hockey teams.

The project included extensive ground works in preparation for the pitch, including ground stabilisation and drainage works. A warm up area has also been constructed which has connected the new water-based pitch with an existing all weather pitch. The pitch has been finished with TigerTurf’s Wett Pro 13, a synthetic carpet which has been tested to FIH International Standards.

Malvern College has been inspired by the successes of the GB hockey team in the Olympics and on the world stage and the potential of individual hockey players is being encouraged to a high level using the new facilities and expert coaching.

Miss Owsley said, ‘I am delighted that Malvern College girls and boys along with other local clubs, will benefit from this outstanding international standard pitch. They will continue to discover the benefits of being part of a team while learning new skills and gaining valuable life experiences.’

This new investment means that there are now two artificial hockey pitch at Malvern College and it is a great reward to Malvern hockey players who compete at national and international levels.