The Barbados Hockey Federation (BHF) will have to raise almost $2 million to completely refurbish the National Hockey Centre, Wildey, with a new AstroTurf and administrative offices.
The cost of the turf has been estimated at between $500 000 and $700 000, while new administrative offices – with players’ dressing rooms, toilet facilities, offices, bar, conference/meeting rooms, a technical area, officials’ area and spectators’ stands – will be between $1 million and $1.5 million.
BHF president George Bennett told NATIONSPORT the AstroTurf had a shelf life of eight to ten years, and they had already got an extra four years out of their turf, which was constructed in 1996.
“Right now it is really terrible. We have to be patching it every two months or so. I mean it is quite dangerous to play on it the way it is. Many of the seams are torn apart, but we are playing on it because we really have no choice. We frequently have to patch the seams, which don’t last too long and the actual turf material is worn out,” Bennett said.
“We need to have new lights, a new turf and we need to have the building. That’s really the three-prong approach we would like to see. We would like to see it all happen at the same time.”
When the turf was first installed, that was Phase 1 of a project to completely transform the centre into a state-of-the art facility that would give Barbados an edge in hosting regional and international competition, as well as the preparation of national teams. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money to finish it.
Bennett admits a big enough effort wasn’t made to complete the project.
“I don’t think that we made as big an effort over the years to do as much fund-raising as we should have or could have. When you have people operating in organisations that they give of their services voluntarily, you find it difficult to get things done as you would like,” Bennett said.
The construction of the AstroTurf facility was mandated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) when it switched to artificial surfaces.
Over the years, the BHF has been faced with several challenges related to the upkeep of the centre.
The water bill was high for quite a number of years and they reduced the number of times they wet the turf, reducing the monthly bill to between $400 and $500. The pump has occasionally not functioned and the water-based turf is often bone dry.
“Yes it is a water-based turf and it should be wet, but it was placed here in 1996 with a life of about eight years, so really and truly we should not be having a turf at this stage based on the life span of the turf. As you can see, we are still hanging with it, but I don’t think it has much longer to go. I would think that not wetting it often has caused a greater deterioration than normal because it is a water turf,” Bennett said.
In addition to the cost of repairing the turf, the BHF has received an estimate of $90 000 to replace the outdated lights.
“There are major problems with the lights. The lights were obviously placed there with the turf, but there is a lot of corrosion at the base with the wires, the actual poles and the areas that hold the fittings. Even when we replace the bulbs, they don’t last very long because of the inherent problems with corrosion. We need a complete overhaul of the lights,” Bennett continued his list of problems.
All of these shortcomings have limited the BHF’s ability to host international matches.
“Financially, we are not in a position to do so. The turf is not in a condition that we can. If we are going to host international tournaments, we will definitely need a new turf and the facility itself is not conducive although we have done so with the facility as it is. We wouldn’t want to continue hosting international tournaments without a proper administrative building and pavilion. We can’t do so now because of the state of the turf,” Bennett said.