Wellington School held an opening ceremony of its newly resurfaced All Weather Pitch on Friday 8th September with special guests Alex Danson and Tom Carson.
Alex Danson is a double Olympic medallist, winning gold in Rio 2016 as part of the GB Field Hockey team. She was just 16 when she made her international debut in 2001 and has won over 240 international caps
Tom Carson is an Old Wellingtonian and plays hockey for Great Britain and England. He made his debut in Belgium in June 2013. He has won a number of medals, the latest a gold medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament. After graduating Exeter University with a degree in Management with Marketing, he’s also been featured on Dragons’ Den for his clothing company YoungOnes.
The original All Weather pitch was opened in 1999 and a new surface was long overdue. The old surface and the rubber underlay were removed and a new rubber shock pad was laid. The new surface is a sand dressed synthetic grass carpet manufactured by Lano Sports NV in Belgium. The fencing has also been renewed and new team dugouts have been built.
The total cost of the work was £280,000.00.
Old Wellingtonians, parents, pupils guests and the Mayor of Wellington turned out in force to watch some celebrity coaching session with Tom and Alex, an official opening and ribbon cutting followed by a celebrity match with pupils, past pupils and staff.
Headmaster Henry Price commented, “I would like to thank all the Parents, OWs and Friends of the School (both formal and informal) who have donated to this via the Corner Capital Fund. The Friends continued their support by serving refreshments and my sincere thanks go to the Estates and Grounds Departments who have worked so hard to ensure it was completed on schedule.”
“We were fortunate to welcome hockey legends Alex Danson MBE, gold and double bronze Olympic medallist and our own GB Hockey player Tom Carson whose name is synonymous with Wellington and Hockey. It was a privilege to have two such inspirational figures to open the All-Weather pitch and start the term on such a positive note,” concluded Henry Price.