Fraser High School recently celebrated the grand opening of its new TigerTurf multi-use sport surface. Principal, Martin Elliott says the new field is an investment in its students.

"At a community school where you're trying to provide facilities for a diverse student body with equally diverse interests, a multi-use field just makes sense. This field supports traditional sports like hockey, tennis and netball, and can also be used as a training field for athletics and a whole range of physical education activities. With one surface, the students have gained multiple new opportunities.”

Executive Officer, Jim Branton adds, "The primary uses of the field will be tennis, netball & hockey. But it is already being used for soccer and touch as well. It gives us a durable, multi-sport surface that can be used year round.”

Elliott says the most important judges of the field are the students. Since its completion in March, the initial student reaction to the new surface has been very positive.

"It's fantastic to be able to give our students the opportunity to play and train on a superb facility that they can take pride in and have fun using. We believe we have some of the best sport and recreation facilities of any state school in New Zealand. It's part of our commitment to be the best community school in the country.”

"Our school is a decile 5 school, but that disguises the fact that a lot of kids come from decile 1, 2 and 3 schools. Of the 26 schools that feed in to Fraser, 7 of the closest 8 are low decile. Many of our students come from poor areas, but they all deserve the best.”

Branton adds, ‽When you compare the new surface with what we had previously, like our old run down asphalt netball courts, it's the difference between chalk and cheese. There's just a huge jump with the new surface and the students are really enjoying it.”

In addition to a desire to give students the best, Branton says durability, quality and maintenance were key factors in the decision to go with a TigerTurf multi-use field.

"It covers the spectrum of sports at a reasonable price and it's durable. Having one field that can handle three to four key sports is very attractive both financially and in terms of efficient land-use. We don't have unlimited space, and this surface means we don't need dedicated fields for every sport.”

"When we were looking in to an artificial surface, TigerTurf toured us around various fields. We saw the multi-use surface in all sorts of weather and temperature conditions and thought it would be ideal for us. Natural turf just can't compete with the performance in a 'four seasons in one day' climate.”

"From a maintenance point of view, it only requires grooming every three to four months. It also has a five year warranty, which Mother Nature doesn't offer with grass.”

Elliott explains that the new TigerTurf surface is intended to be enjoyed by students, as well as by the wider community in Hamilton.

‽We have established this as a community facility. By putting lights on it, we've doubled the use of it each day, through weekends and nights. Waikato Tennis, Hockey and Netball are already using it. What we're finding is that various Clubs are hiring it as a training venue because it's superior to other available surfaces.”

Says Branton, "We are really impressed with the completed installation. The decision to go with a multi-use field was the right one for the school and our students.”