As more funding has been announced to support (some) grassroots sports, others, like hockey, are losing pitches all over the country. The below ditty has been written by one of our members to highlight how badly this is affecting hockey ALL OVER THE UK.

AN ODE to the FA, RFU and UK Government..

"This Girl Can"
The Government said
But hockey girls everywhere
Shake their head

For hockey friendly' Astroturfs
Far and wide
Are being replaced
For a different kind

Since Astroturf hockey
First became born
These pitches are looking
Old and worn

From years of hard training
And great matches played
They need money spending
And must be re-laid

Sports centres and schools
There are so many
Can't renew their pitches
As they don't have the money

But as if by magic
Offers of help do come in
From the cash-rich 'big boys'
Situation win win?

Ah no, all is not quite
As well as it seems
For the FA and RFU
Have 'different' dreams

They are quite happy
To get financially involved
But hockey clubs problems
Are far from solved

Sand-based pitches are a 'no'
From rugby and football
3G is their preference
So they make the call

If a new pitch is needed
And they are to pay
Its 3G or nothing
They WILL have their way

As each year goes by
More hockey clubs struggle
To find pitches to play on
Finances to juggle

They complain to the schools
That hockey will die
"But there's no other way"
Schools say with a sigh

While pilates and yoga
Make certain girls gleam
Some ladies just want to be
Part of a team

Football or rugby
Is just not their thing
It's being on that hockey pitch
Which makes their hearts sing

So WHY are you 'big boys'
Taking this stance
You'll kill off our sport
We dont stand a chance

You really are selfish
Behaving this way
When it's HOCKEY so many of us
Still want to play

We need hockey Astros
For every league game
You just use them to train on
So it really is lame

You know you are slowly
Destroying our sport
By leaving us pitchless
It's so sad to report

So next time you offer
To re-lay a turf
Think of other sports too
That are played on this earth

Newquay Hockey play in Truro now
Far, far away
And that pitch is neglected
And often dangerous to play

We still cling to the hope
That one day we'll get home
To old Newquay town
Which is where we belong

With so many clubs
Suffering a similar fate
Please SOMEONE do SOMETHING
Before it's TOO LATE!

SOMEBODY SURELY CAN PUT A STOP TO THIS?

Find the video version on our Facebook page here.