King's staff, pupils, parents and local hockey players and dignitaries braved the biting winds to come together on Saturday to celebrate the opening of the much anticipated All Weather Pitch at The King’s School, Gloucester.  

Six key hockey matches were played on the new, bight blue pitch. The U15 boys XI beat Rendcomb College while the Girls' 1st XI lost to Christ College, Brecon. The Boys’ 1st XI played against a slightly older Headmaster’s Invitation Side made up of Alumni, former King’s teachers, Gloucester Hockey Club and Cheltenham Hockey Club players and England players.  But age and experince did not win out over youthful vigour, with the 1sts claiming a 5-4 victory.

The guest of honour was Gloucester City MP Richard Graham, who played as part of the parents, staff and guests team against the King's mixed 2nd XI. After recoverng his breath he cut the ribbon and declared the pitch open.

The Headmaster, David Morton, spoke of King’s rich sporting history which spans 96 years, and went on to say “the addition of the new All Weather Pitch, together with warm up area and floodlighting, will allow pupils to reach the next level of success in hockey and many other sports besides. It’s about health, fitness and friendship – key qualities which will last children for life.”  

The £1 million investment will also benefit the wider community, enabling other local schools and sports clubs to use King’s city centre resources.  The pitch will used by external groups for about half the year, helping children to develop a love of sport.

Gloucester City Hockey Club are planning to use the pitch next season and Chairman Anton de Leeuw, commented: “The opening of the new King’s School All Weather Pitch fills me with great excitement for the future of Hockey within the wider community of Gloucestershire. The commitment in the new facility provides both a wonderfully appropriate and sustainable facility to not only connect, but also develop strong community connections by providing different ways to meet Hockey players’ needs, in a County where much focus is often on the success of other sports.”  

Cheryl Stennett, Hockey Development for Gloucester City Primary Schools, is also planning to use the new pitch.  She commented, “During the past 10 years I have been involved with the development of hockey across the local Gloucester City Schools. We hold an annual festival which attracts over 15 local schools and have recently established a summer hockey league. One of our major challenges has been pitch time/ space and with this in mind the new King’s pitch will be a great support. We are planning to run a new development festival aimed at ‘B’ team players and plan to host this at the school.” 

 Philip Dancey, Chair of Governors and former King's pupil, thanked the South West companies that helped to build the new pitch, including Keyway Excavation, Allstones Aggregates, Verde Recreo and renowned Gloucester Architects, Roberts Limbrick.