Horrendous conditions put a damper on hockey

Sports fanatics’ frustration with municipal facilities reached a head after last week’s hockey tournament.

The Newcastle Hockey Club (NHC) hosted more than 12 teams last Saturday, but were left red-faced at players having to drive from the Arbor Park grounds to the Newcastle Mall to change into their kit.

Committee members said this was due to the change rooms at the ground being unavailable for use.

In a letter forwarded last week to the mayor, Afzul Rehman, the club said two homeless people were residing in the men’s toilets and the female ablution block had been padlocked shut.

Reportedly, this was due to abuse of the facilities, although NHC denied having any events on that weekend.

Appealing to Cllr Rehman to intervene in terms of their numerous complaints, committee members Dean and Candice Bond and Craig Pedersen made mention of provisions in the 2013 budget for astro-turf pitches at the Arbor Park grounds.

They believe this will be huge factor in their hosting of the Quadrangular Tournament next year.

“Each year, four Northern (KwaZulu) Natal teams are chosen from our districts; we then attend an annual Quadrangular Tournament, where we compete against three other regions with four teams each.”

Newcastle was selected to host the tournament for the first time in eight years in 2015. However, without the astro-turf pitch and adequate facilities to make use of, the NHC committee may be forced to forfeit hosting rights in favour of Midlands, viz Pietermaritzburg.

“This will be a devastating loss to our club, as we will not profit from any of the tournament fees to keep the club running, or give it the upgrade it so desperately needs.”

Not hosting the tournament, the letter continued, would be a substantial loss for Newcastle as a whole.

NHC members also made mention of ongoing problems with the Arbor Park facilities, including the dangerous state of the fields, the poor condition of the floodlights and the destruction of the goal boxes.

The fields, the letter added, were being ruined by vehicles driving across the fields.

“Our committee has tried to block cars from driving through by placing big stones across and planting poles, but every week they are removed.”

Last week, the letter was again forwarded to municipal sources by this publication, yet no response was received from the municipality at the time of going to press.

Unfortunately, it seems the NHC might lose out on golden opportunities without the assistance it so desperately needs.