ENGLAND & GB HOCKEY RENEW AGREEMENT WITH NOTTS SPORT AS OFFICIAL FACILITIES PARTNER UNTIL 2023

England Hockey & GB Hockey renew partnership with Notts Sport

Leading synthetic surfacing supplier Notts Sport will continue its ongoing support for hockey by extending its successful relationship with England & GB Hockey as the organisation’s Official Facilities Partner.

The renewed partnership, which will run until 2023, means Notts Sport continues their fantastic work, ensuring that clubs, schools and local authorities can deliver the best new and refurbished hockey facilities to help grow the game in communities up and down the country.

The announcement comes eight years after Notts Sport began working with England & GB Hockey, offering Facility Design, Advice & Funding opportunities. The extension of the partnership provides an emphatic endorsement of the quality of service the company provides.

As well as the renewal of the Official Facilities Partner of England & GB Hockey, Notts Sport are also proud to announce their continuation as Title Partner of the Schools Championships for Boys. Notts Sport has supported this event, which runs annually, to grow participation levels at schools around the country. In the extended partnership, the company will carry on working alongside the Facilities Team to award Club of the Year at our annual Awards Dinner plus supporting our Development Team in providing exceptional support to our Hockey Family across the country.

Notts Sport Managing Director Duncan Bennett says: “We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with England Hockey which began back in 2012 with an audit of various hockey pitches to support a wider piece of work the Facilities Team were working on at the time.  Almost a decade later, we have been fortunate enough to provide hundreds of clubs across England with valuable support, information and advice that assisted them with their hockey pitch schemes and as a result, delivered many projects. 

We are extremely excited to continue the relationship with England & GB Hockey because the changes we are seeing both in pitch and turf technology and for sport in general will drive innovation and improvements. Our partnership is a key relationship to Notts Sport, and we look forward to supporting the Hockey Family via new ways to educate and inform discussions around these changes and how we can all embrace the best options provided.”

England & GB Hockey CEO Nick Pink “We are delighted to have extended our partnership with Notts Sport through to 2023. The market-leading work they undertake with our clubs and schools is critical to the facility provision for hockey and the support they provide our initiatives. We look forward to working with Duncan and his team as hockey continues to make positive strides on and off the pitch.” 

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ENGLAND HOCKEY STAR PUTS NOTTS SPORT DESIGNED PITCH THROUGH ITS PACES AT LOCAL COLLEGE

England & Great Britain hockey star Sam Ward took time out from his preparations for the 2021 Olympics to host a special training session for school pupils – on an artificial turf pitch designed by leading synthetic surfacing supplier Notts Sport.

Sam Ward opening the new facility at Lutterworth College

The recently completed refurbished pitch at Lutterworth College was officially opened by Sam in October this year, giving the students some much-needed excitement and fun in this strange year.

The school recently upgraded their multi-sport pitch to a synthetic hockey pitch designed by Notts Sport to meet International Hockey Federation (FIH) National category field standard.

Sam delighted pupils with a special training session and game and was enthused to see pupils benefiting from such a fantastic facility, which he believes will help develop the sport in the local area. He said “It was amazing to go back to the Midlands to open the pitch at Lutterworth College. It is a fantastic school in which a high class facility like that can really bring the community together getting more people more active. The playing surface supplied by Notts Sport is incredible and hopefully will be used to create some stars of the future.”

Within just eight weeks, the school’s original Notts Sport multi-sport pitch – which had seen 15 years of intensive use – was given a state-of-the-art make-over, creating a top-notch facility for students and community users to enjoy.

Notts Sport channel partner Cleveland Land Services were contractors for the install, lifting and removing the existing carpet and shockpad, cleaning the macadam base before installing a brand new shockpad and sand dressed synthetic grass.

The £251k refurbishment project was carried out during lockdown and the summer holidays, meaning there was minimal disruption to the school.

Laura Kendrick, School Business Leader at Lutterworth College said, “Working with England Hockey’s Official Facility Partners Notts Sport, our old pitch was stripped and then resurfaced with a new shock pad and premium sand dressed surface compliant for multi-sport activities benefiting the whole sports curriculum and the wider community. Notts Sport made the process so easy, taking away the stress and giving us the confidence that we’d get just what we were looking for. A huge success all round!”

Sam Ward’s visit ended with a Q&A with the pupils where they learnt what it is like to be a professional athlete, the amount of training is involved to be one, his inspiration and the details of Sam’s worst injury he had received, the Olympic Qualifiers in 2019, when he was hit with a hockey ball and received 8 fractures to his face and lost his sight in his left eye.

JOIN US FOR OUR 1ST ONLINE FAST TRACK FUNDING SEMINAR!

Unable to bring our roadshow seminars to you this year in these strange times, we have decided to take them online! Our first seminar highlighting our exciting funding scheme which enables the installation of state-of-the-art community sports facilities, will be avaialable on Zoom on the 26th November 2020 at 1330.

Fast Track Funding – an initiative from leading synthetic surfacing supplier Notts Sport – has funded 35 new sports facilities worth in excess of £15 million over the past 7 years.

Fast Track Funding is the only non-traditional funding route for artificial turf facilities – such as 3G football and rugby, or multi-use hockey pitches – proven to be compliant with Education Funding Agency requirements and local authority or academy auditors.

It’s an ideal and easy solution for schools and local authorities, providing high-quality, synthetic turf sports pitches, with little or no upfront capital contribution required.

That’s because most sports facilities are able to generate significant revenue through community use, and this income can be used to pay for a considerable proportion, if not all, of the cost of projects delivered under the unique scheme.

This online event will give all viewers the opportunity to find out how the scheme could benefit them and learn about the experiences of customers who have already had facilities completed thanks to Fast Track Funding.

With Fast Track Funding, Notts Sport works closely with the individual customer to design a bespoke sports facility that’s specific to their vision and strategy.

Instead of the customer spending months or years applying for grants and waiting for funding, Notts Sport will provide a flexible funding solution with repayments spread over an agreed period to suit specific budgets. So depending on the customer’s requirements, Notts Sport and its specialist funding partners, UniLink Finance Ltd, could provide full funding for the facility up front or supply part of the cost to top up existing funds or budgets.

Duncan Bennett, Managing Director of Notts Sport, says:

“Over the past 7 years our free Fast Track Funding Seminars have proven to be an ideal opportunity to learn about how Notts Sport can help deliver and achieve world class sport & play facilities for their communities without any capital contribution required.

“Since 2013 we’ve completed FIFA & World Rugby compliant pitches, FIH compliant Hockey pitches covering the resurfacing of existing pitches, the construction of new pitches and even a major playground development.  These projects have been delivered with funding approvals for a range of customers across Academies, Academy Trusts, Catholic Schools, Independent Schools and Primary Schools.  

The Turnaround on Fast Track Funding projects can be expedited so as an example, in 2018 we took an enquiry from Stantonbury International School on 20^th December 2018 and had funding approval, the project tendered and as a result had the School’s condemned artificial grass pitch resurfaced & completed to comply with FIFA Quality standards by the end of March 2019.

Working with our partners such as England Hockey, Notts Sport provide valuable advice for customers to help maximise the external use of the new facility after completion.  This means the pitch can generate income from the outset & immediately start to pay for itself.  This will ensure the whole project delivers on a carefully developed business & financial plan to create a long term sustainable model bespoke for each of our customers’ requirements.”

Designing each and every facility to the specific requirements of each customer, Notts Sport has an unrivalled project portfolio illustrating the widest range of solutions. We will be showcasing a number of those recently completed projects including Liverpool College, The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and more; in addition to the world class sports grounds such as Lord’s Cricket Ground; and iconic brands such as Central Park playgrounds in New York.

The company, which has over 36 years of experience in the sports and play surfacing sector, also assures full quality control throughout the installation through its turnkey project management service.

To ‘attend’ our Fast Track Funding Seminars click on the link below:

BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

To find out all they need to know about Notts Sport Fast Track Funding, staff from schools and local authorities can book their place at a free Fast Track Funding seminar online at Zoom. Further information is available by emailing markw@nottssport.com or calling 01455 883730.

Roundhay School

Roundhay School is an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ school located in Roundhay, Leeds.
Notts Sport were approached to project manage the installation of a new full size sand
dressed hockey facility, overseeing planning, design, building and maintenance.
The project was developed from 2014 through to 2016 in partnership with Leeds Council,
and it has allowed the school to introduce hockey into the curriculum for the first time.
In the first four months since completion of the new pitch, the school has seen over 50 girls playing hockey, a tremendous start illustrating how a synthetic turf facility has the ability to improve participation and engage a wide range of pupils.

Rachelle Le-Bourdin, PE teacher at the school was able to tailor the pitch to the school’s
needs:
“Working with Notts Sport was brilliant right from the beginning: they came up straight
away, met with us and asked about our vision and what we needed from the pitch, so it
was always about what we wanted and needed, and not ever about what they were trying to sell.”
“From the brilliant initial meeting the relationship grew, and they’ve actually helped with the wider planning of an expansion at the school. They’ve been absolutely brilliant from start to finish: coming and checking that everything’s been installed properly, and helping with our opening ceremony.”

The sand dressed hockey pitch is the first of its kind in the area, meaning that it will benefit the wider community:
“We’ve gone from having about 15 at hockey practice to having over 50 at every session –
and that’s only the girls. We are hoping to get junior clubs in the community involved which means our pupils can have a bit of a school/club link going on, and sports such as hockey, football, handball can grow within the community for juniors and adults alike.”

We welcomed England and GB Hockey player, Suzy Petty, to open the pitch in May:

“Coming from Leeds originally, having a pitch at Roundhay is unbelievable – I’ve been playing against them since I was 11. They have never had a hockey pitch before, and I think for a school like this that is so big and has such a big impact on the community. To have a hockey pitch is just unbelievable and hopefully the kids will just love it!”

ISBA Gold Sponsors

Oundle School‘s World Class 10 Lane Cricket Practice Facility

Notts Sport are honoured to have been selected as headline sponsors of the ISBA (Independent Schools’ Bursars Association) conference 2017, and wish to offer all delegates a free, no-obligation meeting to support your sport, play or cricket project.

As Official Facilities Partner to England Hockey, Hockey Wales and Scottish Hockey we are the leading brand in Hockey pitches; and with four ECB approved Cricket systems, we have been established as the leading non-turf specialists for over 33 years. We also provide a range of unique playground systems hugely popular with schools around the world.

Indeed, since 1984, Notts Sport have been at the forefront of innovation in the synthetic sports turf industry, to improve quality standards, and to ensure the development of sport and play opportunities for all.

As the industry’s leading synthetic surfacing specialists, we have built an impressive portfolio of world-class projects in locations such as Lord’s Cricket Ground and New York’s iconic Central Park, as well as at numerous leading independent schools throughout the UK and Europe.

Our latest development in synthetic turf pitch system technology, ShockWave, is already revolutionising artificial football and rugby pitch construction due to its unrivalled safety for rugby, key sporting performance characteristics and sustainable design features.

To celebrate this exciting headline sponsorship, we would like to offer every delegate the opportunity for a free consultation meeting with one of our team of experts to discuss your Sport, Play or Cricket project. These no obligation site meetings are available at your convenience, to discuss your specific project needs and requirements.

To book your meeting please contact Will Wade on 01455 883 761, or alternatively email willw@nottssport.com.

Notts Sport are delighted to return for a third time as headline sponsors and look forward to meeting the delegates in Manchester this May. To see more of Notts Sport’s recently completed projects you can view our interactive portfolio online.

Ratcliffe College‘s Professional Standard Hockey Pitch

Notts Sport build relationships across UK Hockey

We are proud to announce Notts Sport’s new official partnerships with all 3 GB governing bodies: England Hockey, Hockey Wales and Scottish Hockey.  These relationships will help to cement the company’s position as the leader in the design and supply of Hockey Facilities, and will ensure that Notts Sport continue in their commitment to growing the sport’s participation levels across the UK.

“Notts Sport are committed to promoting Hockey and have an unrivalled track record of delivering high quality facilities as illustrated by our ongoing success in the hockey market throughout the UK.  Indeed, we have a vision of becoming the number one brand for Hockey in the UK, and our partnerships with England Hockey, Hockey Wales and Scottish Hockey will help us meet that challenge as we grow over the coming years.”

Duncan Bennett, Managing Director, Notts Sport.

 

Read more about Hockey facilities on our website: http://www.nottssport.co.uk/hockey.html

 

 

Official Scottish Hockey Partners

Scottish Hockey announces Notts Sport as official Facilities Partner

Notts Sport are delighted to announce their new official partnership with Scottish Hockey as official Facilities Partners.

The partnership will be in place for three years as Notts Sport looks to support hockey north of the border in Scotland, replicating the success of similar partnerships with England Hockey & Hockey Wales.

Working in collaboration, Notts Sport and Scottish Hockey aim to grow the game at all levels and support clubs, schools, and local authorities to deliver the best new and refurbished hockey facilities, helping the sport thrive in Scotland.

Notts Sport will become the title partner for the Inter Districts competitions, which will be called the Notts Sport Inter Districts.

Scottish Hockey will also work closely with Notts Sport through HockeyFest which as of 2016 is now run throughout Great Britain. HockeyFest is the social event of the season, offering clubs a fantastic opportunity to promote themselves, show off their current facilities and raise funds for new equipment or projects. HockeyFest, held throughout August and September, is open to everyone and gives clubs the chance to develop unity and excitement and attract new members in the build-up to the season.

David Sweetman, CEO of Scottish Hockey, said: “We’re delighted to work in partnership with Notts Sport to grow hockey in Scotland. With a shared passion for hockey I’m looking forward to a bright future working in collaboration for the benefit of the sport. The expertise available through this partnership will help ensure more quality playing surfaces in Scotland.”

Duncan Bennett, Managing Director of Notts Sport said: “Notts Sport are committed to promoting Hockey and have an unrivalled tracking record of delivering high quality facilities as illustrated by our ongoing success in the hockey market throughout the UK. Indeed, we have a vision of becoming the number one brand for Hockey in the UK and this exciting new partnership with Scottish Hockey will help us meet that challenge as we grow over the coming years. 

With the recent news that there is significant Scottish representation in the new GB Training Squads for Tokyo 2020, and with our shared values and vision for the sport it feels like an ideal fit and time for Notts Sport and Scottish Hockey to work together as facilities partners.”

 

 

England Hockey OFFICIAL PARTNERS

ENGLAND HOCKEY RENEW AGREEMENT WITH NOTTS SPORT AS OFFICIAL FACILITIES PARTNER UNTIL 2021

Leading synthetic surfacing supplier Notts Sport will continue its ongoing support for hockey by extending its successful relationship with England Hockey as the organisation’s Official Facilities Partner.

The renewed partnership, which will run until 2021, means Notts Sport continue their fantastic work in collaboration with England Hockey, ensuring that clubs, schools and local authorities can deliver the best new and refurbished hockey facilities to help grow the game in communities up and down the country.

The announcement comes four years after Notts Sport began working with England Hockey, offering Facility Design, Advice & Supply. The extension of the partnership provides an emphatic endorsement of the quality of service the company provides.

As well as the renewal of the Official Facilities Partnership, England Hockey and Notts Sport are also proud to announce their continuation as Official HockeyFest Partner. With Notts Sport’s help and the uplift in exposure hockey has received following the Olympics campaign, the 2016 HockeyFest initiative was successful in inspiring young and old alike to pick up a stick. Notts Sport has supported this fantastic nationwide event, which runs annually, to grow participation levels at hockey clubs around the country. In the extended partnership, the company will carry on working alongside England Hockey to encourage people to give the sport a try whilst enhancing the relationship between clubs and their communities.

Not only will Notts Sport continue with both these partnerships, the company has also announced that it is extending its investment within hockey. From the 2017, Notts Sport is proud to become Title Partner of the Schools Championships for Boys and the England Hockey Schools Conference. This will help to extend the reach of hockey even further giving more opportunities for children to play and be involved in hockey.

England Hockey Commercial Director Jon Cockcroft says: “We are delighted to have extended our partnership with Notts Sport through to 2021.  The market-leading work they undertake with our clubs and schools is critical to the facility provision for hockey and the support they provide our initiatives, such as HockeyFest, enhances the experience for existing and new players alike.  We look forward to working with Duncan and his team as hockey continues to make positive strides on and off the pitch.”

Notts Sport Managing Director Duncan Bennett says: “We care passionately about hockey and our partnership with England Hockey goes far beyond a pitch. We are equally as proud of HockeyFest and our involvement in supporting hockey as a sport, as we are the ongoing delivery of high-quality hockey pitches throughout England.

“We are extremely proud of the continued success of our relationship with England Hockey since we began in 2012 and look forward to an exciting period for the sport, building from the success of Rio 2016 with ambitious plans for the future development of the game.”

 

HOCKEY WALES BEGIN PARTNERSHIP WITH NOTTS SPORT AS OFFICIAL FACILITIES PARTNER

Leading synthetic surfacing supplier Notts Sport have taken their support for grassroots hockey to a whole new level, after being chosen as Hockey Wales’ Official Facilities Partner.

The new partnership will see Notts Sport work closely with Hockey Wales to ensure that clubs, schools and local authorities can deliver the best facilities to help grow the game in communities throughout Wales.

The announcement comes two years after Notts Sport became Official Partner to England Hockey, and is the latest step towards ensuring a strong foundation for the sport across the whole of Great Britain.

Since Team GB’s Olympic gold medal win in Rio 2016, hockey participation levels have risen dramatically, with record numbers taking up the sport and joining clubs across the UK. Notts Sport are committed to ensure that as the sport grows and improves, so too do the standard of facilities available, to guarantee that players of all abilities are able to benefit from the use of a good quality hockey pitch.

Notts Sport have recently completed a number of high quality hockey facilities in Wales, including at Stanwell School, where Penarth Hockey Club are now able to train. Membership across this club has almost doubled in size since its completion, with the men’s and ladies’ teams demonstrating an improvement in collaborative working, sharing umpires and coaches and providing coaching to schools in the community.

Stanwell School, Penarth, Wales

This alliance will see the important continued development of specialised sand filled, sand dressed and water based hockey pitches of an international standard in Wales, necessary to further the success of players and teams in the region.

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Notts Sport’s Managing Director Duncan Bennett says:

“We are excited by the opportunity to work in partnership with Hockey Wales, establishing us as the leading hockey provider in the UK.

As a company we have a strong history of delivering hockey pitches throughout Wales since the late 1980s with over 50 Notts Sport pitches completed since that time.

This heritage, coupled with our knowledge and expertise of hockey facilities, means we believe it is a perfect opportunity to partner with Hockey Wales and help their team achieve their facility strategy over the coming years.”

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David Phenis, Chief Executive to Hockey Wales adds:

“We are delighted to have Notts Sport on side in our continued efforts to ensure more quality playing surfaces in Wales.

The effects of their work with Penarth Hockey Club at Stanwell School are already being felt across the region and the prospect of further collaborations, such as this, is very exciting.

The expertise available through this new partnership will be invaluable over the coming years, and I believe will help us realise our vision of thriving hockey communities across Wales.”

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The leading sports surfacing brand are looking forward to offering their expertise in both new build hockey pitches and facility refurbishments to clubs, schools and local authorities throughout Wales, at the requisition of the governing body.

Further information about Notts Sport’s range of pitches and systems for hockey is available at www.nottssport.com.

[Action photos by SmifSports Photography]

Maddie Hinch Celebrates HockeyFest

With HockeyFest in full swing in the wake of Team GB’s Olympic gold medal success, we visited the grand opening of the new Bromley & Beckenham HC facility to join in the party. The nation’s new favourite goalie, Maddie Hinch, came along to test out the new pitch, coach the team and give some advice to the club’s young players…

We spoke to Maddie in the middle of her whirlwind fortnight since returning from Rio, making appearances on The One Show, Sunday Brunch, Radio 2, Sky Sports and The Johnathan Ross Show. Despite her new showbiz calendar, she told the crowd that it was the grass roots, local community events such as HockeyFest that she had been looking forward to most since winning a gold medal:

“To think that we’ve inspired a generation through the Olympic success is massive to us – it’s actually the main thing we want to do more than anything: to inspire the future and get hockey on the map, to get more people picking up sticks is really important, and the medal is just a bonus.” Maddie Hinch

What is HockeyFest?

HockeyFest is a series of events at hockey clubs all over the country during August and September. These social sports days, hosted by Great Britain Hockey in partnership with Notts Sport, are designed to encourage players of all ages and experiences to get involved, pick up a stick, and join in the hockey community. Everyone from pros to newbies are welcome to try something new and have a bit of fun in friendly atmosphere, with clubs organising BBQs, bake offs, off-pitch challenges, fancy dress and games.

“My favourite thing about HockeyFest is the fact that there’s people here picking up a stick for the very first time. It’s an easy opportunity for people to just come down and experience hockey without having to sign up for anything. You can just literally get down here and enjoy it and there’s a bit of a party atmosphere which makes it all the better!” Maddie Hinch

How can I get involved?

The easiest way to get involved is to come along to a HockeyFest near you, and give the sport a go for free.

“For hockey newcomers I would just recommend getting down there and make sure you try all the different positions. Don’t just focus on being a defender, goalie or forward, try it all, because you never know what you might suit!” Maddie Hinch

Find out where your nearest event is here, and join in the fun!