Poligras at the Parco Atleti Azzurri d’Italie in Bra, Italy
Professional surface for young talent
The small town of Bra in Piedmont, Italy, is not only known for its cheese, but is also the epicentre of the Italian slow food movement. The most important local sport is field hockey. The men’s team, H.C. Bra, has played in the first Italian hockey league uninterrupted since 1967 and has won seven championships in the last five years. Even more successful is the women’s team, H.F. Lorenzoni, which has claimed 17 titles on the field, as well as 11 cup victories and a legendary 22 indoor championship titles. Both teams play at the Parco Atleti Azzurri d’Italie, which is part of a large sports complex that also offers football, a swimming pool and athletics facilities.
These successes in hockey did not come about by chance, because Bra is engaged in intensive youth development work. For example, the Inder Singh Hockey School was founded in 2007, where boys and girls aged five and over are not only taught hockey, but also learn the basic values of sport and society. The hockey school is named after a famous Indian field hockey player who emigrated to Italy and played for Bra.
In 2022, we fitted the training pitch of the Inder Singh Hockey School with our tried-and-tested Poligras synthetic turf, which has been the number-one choice for major hockey events worldwide for many years. Poligras has already been used as the official playing surface at eight Olympic Games. This high-performance hockey turf enables a highly precise and dynamic game while ensuring maximum player safety, even during complex playing manoeuvres: the dense and uniform multidirectional surface of the water-based turf system takes ball-rolling accuracy and speed to an extremely high level, allowing for a fast-paced, precise game. In addition, the surface is highly resistant to changeable weather conditions and strong UV radiation. It can also withstand intensive use over a long period of time, thanks to its durable design.
In addition, our hockey surfaces are trailblazing in terms of resource efficiency and climate protection: the filaments of our Poligras Tokyo GT are partially made from renewable raw materials. Our “I’m green™ polyethylene” has the same product properties as conventional polyethylene, but is sourced from sustainably grown sugar cane. With Poligras Paris GT zero, we have also developed the first climate-neutral synthetic hockey turf. This positive carbon footprint is made possible by filaments composed of organically based raw materials (approx. 80%) and our recyclable polyurethane wear coat: the same properties that significantly reduce the weight of the turf and give it ideal playing properties. What’s more, the use of our very own Turf Glide Technology minimises surface friction for unbeatably fast ball-rolling behaviour. At the same time, water consumption is significantly reduced and player safety further increased.
We are delighted to support young hockey players in Bra with our product – so that yet more future champions can be made.
