Arthur De Sloover inaugurates the second hockey field of Kortrijk club Saint-Georges

Saint-Georges and Sport Vlaanderen worked together for the new pitch with drainage, ET-layer and artificial grass. “People from the hockey world confided to me that this is the best hockey field in Belgium today. It is a water field that is irrigated to guarantee the speed of the game. We also provide a drainage system where we use rainwater and the used water can also be largely reused for, for example, irrigating the football field next to it. We are thus giving hockey sport every opportunity to further develop in Kortrijk in a sustainable way,” says Alderman of Sport Wouer Allijns. The works took place between early May and late July. The entire investment ultimately costs 1,000,000 euros, half of which is paid by the city and part of which is subsidized by Sport-Vlaanderen. Saint-Georges paid the rest himself.

Recruitment of new members

The second hockey field will be used for both training and competitions. The Saint-Georges hockey club has 29 youth and 10 senior teams. The sport of hockey has risen rapidly in popularity since 2008, mainly thanks to Olympic champions the Red Lions and the Red Panthers. Kortrijkzaan Arthur De Sloover also plays for the Lions. He is the godfather of the project and started at Saint-Georges as a hockey player. The presence of a second field cancels the membership freeze. The club welcomes members again and organizes initiations. “Due to the increasing success of our sport, our number of members increases by almost 10 percent every year. Today our club has 625 members who actively participate in hockey. At our home base we only have room for one field and that capacity is no longer sufficient to accommodate to offer our members a high-quality hockey education. We have been looking for a solution for some time. That solution has now been created in collaboration with the city of Kortrijk and Sport Vlaanderen, who are contributing to the construction of a new top hockey field,” adds chairman Anthony Tombeur to.

Some good reinforcements

In addition to the new site, the club can also count on a few strong acquisitions. The men’s team remains in the third national team, the women’s team can play in the first national team. An improvement in quality is particularly noticeable among women. The best goalkeeper of the recent European Championship, Lucia Caruso, comes to Saint-Georges. Polish international Julia Kucharska also strengthens the team along with 3 Argentinian players.