HOCKEY

Federation International de Hockey

FIH has established a network of accredited laboratories for the purpose of certifying synthetic Hockey pitch products and of testing the compliance of installations. Testing of other hockey products such as balls and ancillary equipment is also specified.
Acousto-Scan Pty Ltd is one of these accredited laboratory and offers a testing service on a world wide basis.

Testing and certification of synthetic pitch products and hockey pitches are carried out by the Laboratory to the specifications contained in the FIH Standard

Handbook of Performance Requirements and Test Procedures for Synthetic Hockey Pitched Outdoor (1999)

These tests serve two principal functions - the certification of FIH approved products and the issuing of Compliance Certificates for completed installations. The relevant tests can be summarised from the Handbook as follows.

Section 2: Performance Standards and test procedures

The standards of pitches have been divided into three types in descending order of quality - Global, Standard and Starter. The respective specifications are listed in order:

2.3 Ball Rebound
Test method: Method 1 of BS 7044 : Section 2.2 : 1989
Standard: 100 - 250 mm, (100 - 300, 100 - 400) - surface to ball underside

2.4 Ball Roll
Test method: Method 2 of BS 7044 : Section 2.1 : 1989
Standard: Roll out 9 - 15 m, (5 - 15, 5 - 20) : Maximum deviation from straight line 3 degrees, (3, no max.)

2.5 Ball to Surface Friction
Test method: Inclined ramp
Standard: Minimum coefficients of friction 0.5 (static), 0.35 (dynamic)

2.6 Underfoot Friction
Test method: NSF Friction Tester
Standard: Coefficient of friction between 0.6 and 1.0

2.7 Impact Response
Test method: DIN 18032 Tiel 2 Marz 1991
Standard: 40 - 65 % Force Reduction (40 - 65, 30 - 65)

2.8 Pile/Pad Deformation
Test method: DIN 1803 Tiel 2 Marz 1991
Standard: Minimum stable value 40 % in Force Reduction

2.9 Surface Colour
Test method: Specification to Methuen handbook of colour
Standard: Green

2.10 Surface Gloss
Test method: Use of an 85 degree glossmeter complying to a National Standard eg AS 1580.602.3
Standard: Less than 1.5 %

2.11 Pitch Porosity.
Test method: Method 4 of BS 7044 : Section 2.5 : 1991
Standard: Minimum of 150 mm/hr

Section 5: Field tests

5.2 Spot tests: tests 2.3, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.11 at selected positions o

5.3 Ball Roll: test 2.4 at 4 sites

5.4 Installation Standards

Dimensions - as per latest edition Rules of Hockey
Smoothness - maximum 6 mm under 3 m planometer
Slopes - profile ideally < 0.2 % (< 1.0, < 1.5)
Pitch watering - uniform distribution of equivalent of 3 mm precipitation

5.5 Colour and Gloss: as per tests 2.9, 2.10

5.6 Artificial lighting

Test method: As per FIH Handbook of lighting. Measurements on a 5 or 10 mm square grid. Light meter complying to to National Standard eg AS 1580.602.2

 

Standard : Average horizontal illuminance:	non-competitive activities - 300 lux
	national and club games - 500 lux
	international tournaments - 1000 lux

FIH evenness measure U1 ( min/max ) greater than 0.5

FIH evenness measure U2 ( average/max ) greater than 0.7

The laboratory can be contacted to arrange this testing by fax, telephone or email.

For Product Certification, two 1.5 m square samples of carpet and shock pad are required. Additional samples of 16 m by 4 m of carpet and 16 by 1.5 m of shock pad are required for the ball roll test. It is usually more convenient to do this test at the manufacturer's site. Allow for a test period of 4 to 6 weeks after receipt of samples by the Laboratory.

For Pitch Compliance testing, arrangements are usually made about 3 months before a pitch is installed, or, if it is an existing pitch, a shorter lead time may be convenient depending on the Laboratory's work load. The testing usually takes about 12 to 16 hr on site work and is subject to weather conditions. A report can be obtained within the next two weeks.

For Hockey balls a set of six balls chosen from retail outlets or representative of a manufacturer's stock must be supplied.

For all of these testing regimes, archive samples are held by the Laboratory and a copy of the report is transmitted to FIH, Brussels.

Recent testing and inspections have been carried out at

Homebush Bay, NSW - Main Hockey Stadium, Olympic Sports Centre

Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia - Bukit Jalil Commonwealth Games Stadium

Brisbane, Queensland - State Sports Centre

Nagara Brunei Darussalam, Brunei

Bangkok, Thailand - Pathumthani Klong 6 Asian Games Stadium