Coach Logic, India’s Hero Motocorp and Polytan named as key commercial partners for hockey.

At FIH we aim to build a commercial culture within hockey. This includes attracting big brands to the sport, activating our sponsors onsite at events and ensuring that all of our events and products are designed to deliver commercial value. FIH has recently signed a number of commercial partnerships and will be working with these organisations to further develop hockey around the globe.

Hockey Champions Trophies 2016
Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, was named as the title sponsor of the men’s Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016, which took place at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, Great Britain between June 10-17.

In addition to title sponsorship of the men’s event, the New Delhi (India) headquartered Hero, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, was also a FIH lead partner of the women’s Hockey Champions Trophy, in the same venue.

Coach Logic
Coach Logic was announced as an official FIH Hockey Academy Partner in June, providing National Associations, their leagues and hockey teams with exclusive benefits to Coach Logic video feedback technology.

Coach Logic provides sports teams with an easy-to-use online video feedback and communication platform. FIH Director of Sport David Luckes said: “Coach Logic has built a strong tool for hockey and have committed to develop their products for our sport. This will be of huge benefit to any association or team looking to improve their performance.”

Tokyo 2020 and FIH World Cup Turf supplier confirmed
In another commercial deal, Polytan was announced as an FIH Global Supplier, guaranteeing them exclusive rights including the supply of the turfs for the 2018 and 2022 Hockey World Cups and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The seven-year partnership, with an option for a two-year extension to incorporate the 2024 Olympic Games, signifies a major increase in the commercial value of hockey.

Speaking about this news, FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather said: “Being named as our Global Supplier is recognition of both their continued investment in our sport and their innovative approach to developing top quality surfaces to play hockey on.”

FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf
2016 has already seen continued growth in the number of FIH certified fields.

Ensuring fields are built correctly and are fit for purpose is important to everyone investing in hockey. The FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf is increasingly being specified to ensure this occurs.

With over 40 new fields already this year, including an increasing number in Asia, South America and Australia, the programme has become the definitive quality standard hockey fields at all levels of play.

As part of the growth of the FIH Quality Programme, FIH is delighted to have recently announced that two further companies have been awarded the prestigious status of being an FIH Certified Field Builder.

These include the first in this category in Australia - ABS Sports Fields Pty Ltd, based in Victoria, and the first in South America - Resinsa, who built the competition and training fields for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and also the field in Santiago, Chile which the women's Hockey Junior World Cup will be played on in November.

As more people see the benefits of the FIH Quality Programme we expect to see market demand for FIH Certified Field Builders increasing.

Following a Test Institute assessment in Valencia earlier in the year, three new organisations were confirmed as Accredited Test Institutes of the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf. They are: Labor Lehmacher Schneider & Co (Germany), SGS Intron (Netherlands) and Surface Performance Ltd (UK).

With 30 field engineers, this now ensures that there's a global presence of FIH approved Test Engineers who can certify fields.

Major initiatives aimed at increasing professionalism across all levels of the sport and securing commercial partners who share the hockey strategy’s vision were key factors in agreeing these important relationships with all of these partners. To find out how you can get involved in any commercial activities with FIH, email info@fih.ch.

Hockey5s Facilities Guidance
Hockey5s, an official short-form version of Hockey that is played by five players per side either on a court that can either temporarily placed on an existing full size field or built especially for the game. If you are thinking of building a Hockey5s court our facilities guide will tell you all you need to know. To download these new guidelines, click here.