What it takes to lay six hockey turfs back to back in Korea
From high schools to Korea’s number one tournament venue
On the 6th of October 2020 the final piece of hockey turf was laid at the Seongju High School in Korea. It marked the end of an epic three month journey during which Shaun Goudie, Sport Group’s Head of Major Events and General Manager for Asia, his head technician Brad Martin and their local team completed the installation of six hockey turfs across Korea. Extraordinary times meant that the turfs had to be laid back to back in an intense period of time before work visas expired as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel and made it impossible for expert crew to fly back and forth to Korea. It was a huge undertaking which took 4,300 man-hours, 5,500 miles and a combination of engineering, experience, commitment, personal sacrifice and teamwork to achieve.
And the mission is not over. With three new Poligras turfs due to be completed in Korea next year, this means that by the end of 2021, 90% of synthetic hockey turfs in Korea will be Poligras surfaces.
“The Olympic-standard turfs that Poligras installed at our Cheongpung tournament venue are outstanding”
Poligras turfs help to grow the game sustainably
In a country where the CEO of the Asian Hockey Federation, Tayyab Ikram has recognised “a real commitment to the game”, this investment in infrastructure is a key chapter in hockey’s development there. The fact that Poligras was trusted and chosen over a local product is also testament to a commitment to nurturing a more technologically advanced and sustainable brand of the game.
We caught up with Shaun and Brad to find out what it took to pull off such an ambitious turf project and exactly what it means for the game in the region.
The Poligras People Advantage
A turf is only as good as the people who install it. The same principles of excellence, experience and teamwork that govern what happens on the pitch apply equally to the team behind it.
“Brad and I arrived with over 50 years of industry experience including four Olympic games between us and recruited a local team who stayed with us throughout the whole process”
Shaun explains; “Brad and I arrived with over 50 years of industry experience including four Olympic games between us and recruited a local team who stayed with us throughout the whole process. We worked solidly from 8am until 5pm, seven days a week over a two and a half month period. The team gave it everything and the camaraderie, despite living in each other’s pockets for weeks on end, was excellent. Our crew included twin brothers who literally ran to make things happen. Another of our team was about to join the army. This was good training.”
For Brad who has three children under the age of seven this was the longest stint he had been away from home: “Being away from my family for so long was the toughest part of the project. Six weeks was previously the longest I'd ever been away and that was for the Rio Olympics job. I would video call almost every day to talk to the kids. I’ve worked with Shaun going on 20 years now. We have a similar approach to life and a great relationship which means we were able to last all those days on the road together where other guys may not have.”
The Poligras Product Advantage
“As a result, every competition game in Korea will be played on a Poligras turf by the time we complete the final three turf installations next year.”
Of the six turfs that were installed, two were Poligras Tokyo GT, the surface that Polytan has developed from 60% raw sugar cane to help Tokyo 2020 realise its vision of delivering a carbon neutral games. The remaining turfs were Poligras Platinum – the surface used at the Rio Olympics. Both systems have reduced water systems and the elastic layer beneath them is made from recycled rubber granules from car and truck tyres. It is made on site which in itself reduces the carbon impact of transportation.
Shaun explains; “Together technology and sustainability give Poligras a leading edge over local products and our partners in Korea trusted us to deliver. As a result, every competition game in Korea will be played on a Poligras turf by the time we complete the final three turf installations next year.”
Going beyond to deliver world class surfaces
Not only did they get the job done, but the crew went over and above to ensure the surfaces that were laid were world class. One of the venues, Mockpo City, was close to the sea which makes for silty, sandy soil that is very mobile. This in turn impacts the consistency of the existing asphalt bases upon which the Poligras team were tasked with laying the elastic layer and turf.
Shaun recounts; “Upon checking the asphalt levels there was a massive 200 square meter depression right in front of the goal area. We knew that big deviations like this would not comply with international hockey regulations so we brought in 15 tons of stone and paved in a levelling layer to ensure the asphalt was as accurate as it could be before we laid the turf. These extra lengths we went to turned a second-class pitch into one that met the exacting international standards of an FIH field test.”
Installing pitches in a pandemic
What makes this story more remarkable is that it was delivered in the time of coronavirus. Meeting the biosecurity challenges of a pandemic, ensuring the uninterrupted movement of the team and goods and, on a human level, keeping crew spirits high amidst greater restrictions and during a prolonged time away from families raised the stakes on an already testing project. So while Shaun and Brad put some of their success down to luck – the weather remained broadly on their side, there were no major machinery breakdowns – they also succeeded despite unprecedented odds.
Impacting hockey at every level
Shaun describes the turfs at the Cheongpung tournament venue as; “Some of the best hockey facilities I have seen globally. We laid two Poligras Tokyo GT turfs end to end with first class infrastructure around them, set amongst beautiful countryside. It was really quite special.”
“They provide our national team with the best possible playing surface as we strive to be the best we can be”
Seokkyo Shin, the Head Coach for the Korean National Team could not be happier with the result: “The Olympic-standard turfs that Poligras installed at our Cheongpung tournament venue are outstanding. They provide our national team with the best possible playing surface as we strive to be the best we can be. They will have a big impact on the game here, helping us to grow and improve hockey in a sustainable way.”
Together these surfaces and the four installed at Asan, Gwangju, Mockpo and Seongju cover the full spectrum of hockey in Korea from the potential being nurtured in high schools to the realisation of that promise at the elite end of the game.
Changing the hockey landscape in Korea
The result is that in a very literal sense, Poligras is changing the hockey landscape in Korea and the legacy of those pitches will far surpass their literal number in terms of the health of the game and the environment. That’s not bad for what started out as a pile of old car tyres and a sugar cane harvest. As stories of transformation go, it’s a pretty game changing one.
