The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has agreed partnerships with seven companies under its new Quality Programme initiative.
The firms who have been appointed as official FIH suppliers include Act Global, AstroTurf, Edel Grass, FieldTurf (now incorporating Desso), Lano, Polytan and TenCate Grass (representing the brands GreenFields and TigerTurf).
As part of the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf, these suppliers manufacture hockey turf products and build hockey fields. Their service provision is designed to allow customers to benefit from a one-stop approach to the construction of their new hockey field.
In addition to meeting all the criteria of FIH-certified manufacturers and field builders, the seven suppliers have also demonstrated their commitment to working with FIH around the world to provide high-quality hockey fields suitable for international, national, club and development hockey.
The Quality Programme is one of the first results of the FIH’s Hockey Revolution initiative, a 10-year strategy that aims to make hockey a global game that inspires the next generation. As part of the overall strategy a major initiative was launched to increase the degree of professionalism in hockey.
FIH president Leandro Negre said: “We believe that the long-term success of our sport lies in the quality of hockey facilities around the world. As part of the Hockey Revolution we want to create international standards ensuring the sustainability, affordability and accessibility of hockey fields worldwide, key recommendations also outlined in the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Agenda 2020. The appointment of these seven suppliers marks an important milestone in our development of the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf.”
It was also confirmed earlier this week that English firm S&C Slatter was registered as the first FIH Certified Field Builder.
This certification assures that approved contractors are specialists in the field building area – they have a proven ability to construct fields to the standards required for hockey, have appropriate in-house civil engineering expertise for the design and construction of hockey fields, operate quality management systems to ensure consistency in their work and provide comprehensive maintenance advice to their customers.