USA gets new blue hockey fields

The Cavaliers, ranked 3rd in the NFHCA/ Kookaburra preseason poll, are looking to capitalize on the semi-final runs in the past two seasons at the NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Elly Buckley and senior Rachel Jennings, both selected to the All-ACC Preseason Team, are expected to provide leadership for the squad which returns six starters and 12 letter winners from last year’s team.

Coach Michele Madison’s team finished 18-4 last year.  Madison is entering her sixth season as the head coach and she has taken her team to the NCAA Tournament in each of her five years at the helm.  She is the only collegiate coach to take three Division I programs to the NCAA Tournament.

She is entering her 23rd year as a head coach and has served previous stints at Michigan State and Temple.  She served as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa and with the 1988 and 1996 Olympic teams, as well as the 1994 World Cup team.  Her teams have made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and she was named 2006 National Coach of the Year.

“UVA has a great new pitch,” said Pam Hixon, hall of fame field hockey coach and Field Hockey Ambassador for AstroTurf®.  “The blue is a great touch to a world-class playing surface.  Coach Madison is an outstanding coach and we expect big things from this team.”

Madison is excited about the season and about the new blue AstroTurf® field.

“Our turf was due for replacement,” said Madison.  “The fibers were flat so the ball picked up spin that leads to unpredictable deflections with stick contact. The wear and tear on legs was noticeable.”

She said the decision to install AstroTurf® again was an easy one. “We had such a fantastic installation with the last one that we went with AstroTurf® again,” said Madison.  “The University of Virginia has a great relationship and experience with the seven turf fields it has laid at UVA.”

The decision to go with the striking blue pitch took some research.

“Our athletics administration supports decisions that keep Virginia on the cutting edge,” said Madison.  “When I saw that the Olympic Committee had installed a blue turf, I did some research to determine, ‘Why blue?’.  I reached out to my contacts in London and also to Terry Walsh, USA program director, to solicit their opinions. Also, being a tennis fan, I took notice that more and more tennis courts were being painted blue. Apparently, the main reason is for contrast and visibility. For the Olympics, it was about television coverage and spectator visibility. Anything that contributes to the ability to see that little white ball is something we should be interested in to better our sport. We already had blue turf around the old green turf, so I asked (SWA) Jane Miller if we could just swap the colors. She said, "Why not?"”

The customer did not want awful pink surrounds, like that were built by one company in UK.

The new surface is an AstroTurf® 12 / 90 system.  The field was engineered with a proven, premium knitted nylon fiber designed to provide uniform traction and consistent footing.  It will improve playability when it’s wet and absorbs water to maintain wet conditions longer.

AstroTurf® hockey systems were first used in an international field hockey event in 1975 in Montreal.  The same field hosted the Olympics in 1976, won by New Zealand.  Since then, they have become the preferred surface for field hockey events around the globe.

AstroTurf® surfaces were also used in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  The AstroTurf® 12 system has also seen play in the Pan Am games, World Cup and numerous other field hockey events.  The U.S. National team trains on AstroTurf® in Chula Vista, California, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Also, a new AstroTurf® hockey system is used by the University of Maryland, 2011 NCAA Division I Champions.  To date, all NCAA Division I National Championships have been played on AstroTurf® fields.  The 2011 event will be held at the University of Louisville, on a newly installed AstroTurf® 12 surface.

The USA V New Zealand series was exclusively on Astroturf. NZ won the five match series 4-1