A Goal for the future?
By Tim O?Connell
While the northern suburbs? hockey teams have a quality field of their own to play on, for those in Petone, the distance between their club and their home turf is a bit more of a hike. With the summer season fading away with the autumn leaves, the plethora of winter sports are just getting underway for thousands of local enthusiasts of all ages. With a season that traditionally runs from April to September, as well as a summer league of six-a-side competitions, hockey is among the most popular of these. The Greater Wellington region has a handful of artificial playing surfaces that are seldom empty throughout the hockey season, from the National Hockey Stadium in Newtown to Carterton?s Clareville Hockey Turf. For players in Porirua and its surrounding areas, the Elsdon park facility has been used by local school and club sides since it was completed in 2007. As well as regular matches being played, on April 20 Wellington Hockey held a school holiday programme on the artificial turf, offering coaching and a chance for local players to clash sticks. Over the hill in Petone, the local hockey club appears to be coping with the modern sporting climate, despite their nearest playing or practice facilities being a fair distance from their club headquarters. Priding itself as being one of the oldest clubs in the capital, the modest Petone clubrooms are located at the Petone Recreation Ground-home to the iconic Rugby Union Club. However, like the rest of the clubs within the Hutt Valley, Avalon?s Fraser Park Sports complex is the sole turf within the city which offers a full sized hockey facility. With the long term future of Hutt Park looking to include a wider range of sporting grounds, the possibility of having a turf nearer to the village could soon be a reality. Pictured: Porirua?s Hockey Turf in Elsdon provides a top surface in close proximity for most local players-will clubs in Hutt South soon have a similar facility?
