Kingston University partnership with Surbiton Hockey Club

Kingston University partnership with Surbiton Hockey Club

Kingston University has established a partnership with Surbiton Hockey Club to provide hockey pitches for the University teams to train and play their matches at Surbiton's premier hockey facilities.

Surbiton Hockey club was founded in 1874 and is the second oldest hockey club in the world. The club has thriving community and junior programmes as well as a large senior section, including a number of current and former international hockey players. The men's first team have competed at the highest level of English cub hockey for over 10 years in the English Hockey Premiership and the ladies' first team also compete at national level. The club is based a short distance from Kingston University's Seething Wells hall of residence and boasts excellent hockey facilities with floodlit sand and water based pitches which it has recently upgraded.

Competitive hockey must be played on a suitable artificial grass pitch. The University does not have its own hockey facilities so in previous years the University men's, ladies' and mixed hockey teams have had a nomadic existence, having to train and play matches at three separate venues due to availability of pitches in the local area. This new partnership, which has been put in place initially to last for three seasons but with the option to extend for further periods, will allow the University use of Surbiton's facilities and club house for all matches and training, enabling the University to have a 'home' ground and to meet the interest in playing the sport that exists amongst the student community.

Phil Muschamp, Director of Sport and Recreation at the University, said "The new partnership with Surbiton Hockey Club is an extremely important step for the University and reflects the overall aims of our sports strategy. Not only will it allow our teams to develop at performance level, it will also allow us to grow our club and cater for those students who just want to give hockey a try for the first time. I believe this is the first step to a number of broader areas which the two organisations can work together on and hope this is the beginning of what will become a very productive, wider partnership."