The upgrade to the hockey facilities at Wyndley Leisure Centre has been successfully completed, with the venue now boasting an international standard pitch.
The leisure centre, located in Sutton Coldfield, to the north of Birmingham city centre, was announced as the official training venue for hockey, triathlon and Para triathlon back in November and since then has undergone a transformation, with the existing pitch upgraded to a Federation International Hockey (FIH) standard pitch.
As well as ensuring that the teams invited to compete at the Commonwealth Games have excellent training facilities, the improvements being made at Wyndley Leisure Centre will have a long-lasting benefit for local community groups, schools and local hockey players too, such as those from Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club, who are based at the site.
Wyndley Leisure Centre is owned by Birmingham City Council and operated by Birmingham Community Leisure Trust and the work on the pitch has been funded through the Birmingham 2022 capital programme budget and through national lottery funding via Sport England. The new hockey pitch now replicates the playing surface at the University of Birmingham, the official competition venue for hockey, making it the perfect training venue for the ten women’s hockey teams and ten men’s hockey teams that will compete at Birmingham 2022.
Training venues play a crucial role in the final preparations for all of the competitors at an event like the Commonwealth Games, as hockey’s triple Olympic and triple Commonwealth Games medallist, Laura Unsworth, explained when she visited the site back in November: “Those last few days before a major tournament begins are vital to a team’s preparations, so it is fantastic news that for Birmingham 2022 the hockey teams will have access to a brand-new pitch for training.”
Tickets to watch hockey at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have been selling fast, with the sessions towards the end of the tournament currently unavailable. More details about the Commonwealth Games, including information about tickets, can be found at birmingham2022.com.
The hockey teams for Birmingham 2022 are expected to be confirmed in the next few days.
