The hockey world chooses hockey zero.
Poligras Paris turf has already been chosen by 10 countries.
Hockey is a progressive sport, and the Poligras Paris turf has already been chosen by venues in 10 countries, showing that the global hockey community is embracing greater sustainability for the sport.
With one year until the Olympics, the Paris turf is already a hit around the world, with over 20 installations in:
Australia
England
Germany
France
India
Oman
Namibia
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
South Africa
USA
Paul Kamphuis, General Manager for Polytan Asia-Pacific and Global Lead for Sport Group’s hockey business, is not surprised by the success of the product:
‘It’s a hit product. It has FIH Global certification, which means that top level hockey, like the Olympics, will still choose to use the turf wet, but it has also been FIH Innovation-certified for dry hockey. This flexibility has many benefits for clubs and venues.’
Ashley Appleby, Polytan’s International Sales Manager for the UK, Ireland and Southern Africa, has seen clubs and schools embrace the turf.
‘For hockey around the world, the unique ‘play wet / play dry’ crossover performance is very valuable. A club can now choose a carbon zero turf that provides Olympic quality when wet and performs better than a current sand-dressed turf when dry. That’s the best of both worlds.’
“Premier schools like Stanford University value the Olympic quality performance and carbon zero sustainability features.”
Poligras Paris in Northern Ireland and South Africa
Ashley continues;
‘The performance and flexibility of the turf is great for clubs in my region. For example, Banbridge Hockey Club in Northern Ireland is an elite club, and they wanted the latest Olympic turf for their players. They will mainly be irrigating the turf whereas schools in South Africa, such as St Andrews, Bloemfontein, require dry turfs, so they are choosing Poligras Paris because of its better-than-sand performance which upgrades to Olympic quality with atmospheric moisture.
Installations in USA
‘The Poligras Paris GT product has been very popular in the US,’ says Melissa Vassalotti Twist, AstroTurf’s Director of Hockey.
‘Hockey is played here at schools and universities, and for them, water conservation and carbon reduction is becoming an important factor when selecting their turf product. Premier schools like Stanford University value the Olympic quality performance and carbon zero sustainability features. The Paris turf’s dry performance opens up new field opportunities for the sport which is excellent to see. We are installing the Paris turf dry at Bryn Mawr College, in Pennsylvania, which is their first dedicated hockey turf. This is made feasible because of the dry attributes of this product, while still offering a world class playing surface.’
From Hamburg to Auckland to…
The first Poligras Paris GT zero turf was installed at the historic Hamburger Polo Club in Germany. Watch highlights of the first match here.
Lloyd Elsmore Park, the home of Auckland Hockey in New Zealand, chose the Paris turf as it supports both their environmental and player performance goals. Manoj Daji, CEO, Auckland Hockey was happy with the performance:
‘The turf plays very well when dry - significantly better than a sand-dressed field. When wet, it is a top-quality pitch. There have been many days, especially in winter this year, when we haven’t turned on the irrigation, saving us money but not detracting from the playing experience.’
…the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai
The prestigious Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai will be the first major event in Asia on the Paris Turf. This gives the teams from India, Pakistan, Korea, Japan and China a chance to prepare and play on the turf that will be used in Paris.
Remarkably the turf installation was completed in only 32 days from when the order was placed with our manufacturing facility in Germany!
Poligras, Polytan and AstroTurf have been supporting and loving hockey since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Hockey turfs have come a long way since then, and we congratulate the global hockey community for continuing to make the sport better and more sustainable.