If all goes to plan, St Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein will be the first in Africa to have a state-of-the-art waterless astro.
Jean Joubert and his team from the Trompie Group construction company started rolling out the the synthetic carpet on Tuesday.
He says weather permitting, it will take around two weeks to finish the hockey astro.
The dream that Cheryl Zietsman, the then head of hockey, had 20 years ago when she initiated the idea and samples were taken from the Cabbage Patch rugby field to see the viability of an astro, will soon be a reality.
Building started in July last year and only the carpet needs to be fully laid and finishing touches to the surrounding area completed.
Trevor Raubenheimer, director of hockey at Saints, said the opening of the astro is set for 19 March.
“We hope to play our first match on 1 March. Everyone is looking forward to matches being played on the astro. We really hope that touring teams and tournaments will be held here.”
The school took the step to build the waterless astro after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) decided that the 2024 Paris Olympic Games hockey will be played on a turf that requires no water. Guided by this decision, the school opted for the new Paris GT surface which has an asphalt base.
Joubert said to develop an astro of this calibre, takes decades. “It will probably be the last time that I get to build an astro with the newest technology in my lifetime. This is definitely the first of its kind in South Africa.”
The Headmaster of Saints, Roland Rudd, thanked the team of the Trompie Group for their positive attitude and the great work in building the astro.
Soon the new astro will be alive with hockey players from Saints, after they had to go to the astro fields at the University of the Free State and later to the astro at St Michael’s to practice.
