The new surface at Gonville Domain will be exactly the same at the internationally-rated North Harbour Hockey Stadium turf.
The surface upgrade of Gonville Domain has the backing of three former Black Sticks, including Whanganui's own Robbie Matthews.
Matthews represented New Zealand from 1986 until 2000 and was the first New Zealand women player to reach 150 test caps (played 175 in total). She is now Hockey Wanganui operations
manager and a key playmaker in the upgrade.
David Kosoof, business development manager for Tiger Turf, the company charged with construction and installation of the new surface, played 49 tests for the men's Blacks Sticks between 2000 and 2009, while Tiger Turf project manager Blair Hopping was in the national team between 2000 and 2012 - racking up an impressive 263 caps.
Both Kosoof and Hopping were of course hired by Tiger Turf for their experience and knowledge of playing surfaces. In fact, all three know exactly what is required and are heavily in favour of the water-based surface over the old sand-based system.
"The water-based system is a more user-friendly surface to not only grow our hockey playing numbers but it will help foster collaboration between other codes and offer an opportunity for multisport usage, which is really exciting for Whanganui," Matthews said.
