Pavilion key to tourneys

The hosting of the New Zealand under-15 boys hockey tournament next month will be a forerunner of things to come for the Trust Hockey complex at Clareville, Hockey Wairarapa president Lindsay Annear says.
With two artificial turfs now in play and the two-storey pavilion officially declared open on Saturday, Annear said local facilities were such that major tourneys could be held on a regular basis.
''Obviously, it's up to the national hierarchy to make the final decisions but we can now apply for most of the bigger tourneys with the confidence of knowing we have the amenities to cope,'' Annear said. ''It's huge for the hockey fraternity here, absolutely huge.''
Annear said the quality of the building had drawn many favourable comments from the sizeable crowd that attended the pavilion opening.
Included are four changing rooms, 16 showers, an umpires room and sick bay, commercial kitchen amenities and bar, an office, two storage rooms and two balconies, which enable upstairs viewing of matches being played in both turfs.
In his address, Annear thanked all of those people who had been involved with the construction process in any way, some 180 of them in all, and most on a voluntary basis.
He also thanked the various trusts and businesses that had contributed towards the funding, including $172,000 from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, $50,000 from Pelorus Trust, $20,000 from Prime Community Trust, $20,000 from Eastern and Central Community Trust, and $11,000 from Trust House Charitable Trust.
In addition there had been contributions from other sources, such as $30,000 from Hockey Wairarapa, over $70,000 from the supporters' club and hoarding sales, and more than $80,000 of donations of goods and services from local business concerns.