Central SA
Africa’s first waterless astro rolled out at St Andrew’s in Bloemfontein─── ZENANDE MPAME 14:14 Tue, 06 Feb 2024
“St Andrew’s will be the first school in South Africa to have a turf of this nature setting the benchmark for all other schools.”
A first-of-its-kind waterless Astroturf was rolled out at the St Andrew’s hockey fields on Tuesday (6/2) by the school headmaster, the director of hockey, and the Trompie Sport’s contractor.
The waterless synthetic Astroturf is the same kind to be used at the Paris Olympic Games. This turf is expected to be finished in two or three weeks, while the first match will be played on it on Friday 1 March.
“Today is a historic day for St Andrew’s. Twenty years of planning have finally become a reality. We are unveiling a first-of-its-kind in Africa – a waterless synthetic Astro,” said St Andrew’s Headmaster Roland Rudd.
The rolling out of the first piece of Astro carpet. Picture: Zenande Mpame
“We are thankful to the entire St Andrew’s community as well as the Bloemfontein community for their support in helping us realise this dream.”
The project started in August last year. The preparations were started from scratch and the base works took the team up to now to compete. We have finally received the green light to go ahead with the carpet installation, said Trompie Sport's contractor Jean Joubert.
“This shock pad is supposed to put us in a spot where we can comply with all the methods of testing done by the International Hockey Federation or the FIH. Once this is complete they will come and run a battery of tests and I am sure we will pass all the tests because the lab results were great.”
From left to right: Headmaster Roland Rudd, Cheryl Zietsman, Trevor Norman and Trevor Raubenheimer. Picture: Zenande Mpame
The director of hockey at St Andrew’s, Trevor Raubenheimer, said the Astroturf will make a difference at the school and for the hockey programme. He expressed his excitement about the completion of the turf and the first match that will be played on it in March.
“I am stoked about the Astro completing in two weeks, the official Astro opening match will take place on Tuesday 19 March,” said Raubenheimer.
The school decided to use this waterless synthetic turf after the FIH decided that a turf that needed water, would not be used at the 2024 Olympic Games.
