Dalton, GA – AstroTurf didn’t become the most trusted playing surface in the world of field hockey by keeping the status quo. The brand that changed the sport of field hockey continues to pour resources into research and development in order to provide the latest and greatest elite surfacing for hockey athletes. AstroTurf, the inventor of synthetic turf and the clear market leader in the sport of field hockey, is using its leading fiber technologies, unsurpassed labs, and modern manufacturing plant to lead the way in field innovation once again.
AstroTurf and Poligras are clearly the most recognized and trusted field hockey surface providers in the world. The two brands are members of the Sport Group family, the largest sports surfacing company in the world. Field Hockey organizations can now benefit from the expanded product lineups from the combined system portfolios of both of these legendary brands.
Wellesley College
There are two offerings that AstroTurf is especially excited to present to its United States customers in 2020, Poligras Platinum and Tokyo GT 20. Poligras Platinum is a complex, high-tech, tufted system that lays over an E-Layer®. This surface utilizes non-directional, polyethylene sports yarn to provide optimum ball surface interaction. This system is the same as the one used at the last Olympics in Rio. Actually, under the Sport Group umbrella, AstroTurf & Polytan collectively has been the surface for 75% of the Olympic Field Hockey games. Poligras Platinum is already gaining a foothold in the United States with recent installations at the University of Connecticut and Wellesley College.
Tokyo Olympic Committee visiting our Manufacturing Plant
The Tokyo GT product is truly ground breaking for the sport and the industry. The Tokyo 2020 Games has set itself the goal of organizing the first ever carbon-neutral Olympic Games. Poligras Tokyo GT (Green Technology) is a new sustainable hockey turf, developed by Sport Group to help Tokyo meet this goal. This new sustainable hockey turf is the first of its kind to feature filaments made from over 60% re-growable raw materials. Sport Group companies are using Bio-Based PE to add a sustainable dimension to the outstanding playing properties of its tried-and-tested polyethylene monofilament fibers. To develop the technology and the product we engaged a wide range of Sport Group resources from Europe, the US and Australia. This included chemical engineers, testing- materials scientists, extrusion-technology specialists, chemists, and process engineers. And to ensure the turf was good for ‘laying and playing’ we also worked with our construction engineers and with sports-mechanical experts and hockey players.
Sugar Cane had to be introduced into the supply chain
This premium playing surface is composed of 60% Sugar Cane, saves CO2, and uses less water. These hockey turfs are making a positive contribution to the environment and creating an entirely new category of hockey turf that we like to refer to as “Climate Positive Hockey”. The playability and performance is top notch and the system has been getting rave reviews in recent tests. Teams from Australia and Japan competed on the Poligras Tokyo GT surface at the Ready Steady Tokyo test event recently and they had some nice things to say about the pitch.
“The field tested really well,” said Emily Chalker, a Striker for the Australian team. “It’s a great thing for the future of our sport so that we will be able to play anywhere in the world on quality pitches and not impact the environment.”
Georgie Morgan, a Defender for the Australian team added, “It plays really quick for a new pitch. The ball is moving around nice and quick on the surface, it gets a big thumbs up from our team.”
When Tokyo challenged the sporting world with the idea that it would be the world’s first carbon-neutral games that posed a big problem for a sport like hockey which is played on perfectly smooth, synthetic grass. But thanks to Sport Group’s dedication to transforming the business of sport and space, along with their industry leading initiatives in green technology, this dream is soon to become a game-changing reality with the world’s first truly sustainable hockey turf at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Learn more about the approach and process of creating “Climate Positive Hockey” here: www.turfresponsibly.com
The Tokyo GT system will be available in the United States in the Spring of 2020. Contact AstroTurf’s Director of Field Hockey, Melissa Vassalotti-Twist for more information about Tokyo GT as well as our complete line of high quality hockey systems for every budget. Contact Melissa at 267-872-0589 or email her at [email protected]
About AstroTurf®
For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s newly redesigned website at www.astroturf.com.