UP-AND-COMING hockey stars in the area now have another top-quality facility to use at Pocklington School.

New sand-finished Astroturf pitches for hockey and tennis that will be used by both the school and the wider community have just been unveiled.

One surface is slightly better for hockey and the other subtly more suited to tennis but both sports can be played on both full-size surfaces and will provide a huge boost to sports teaching. The school is also looking to embrace cutting edge initiatives like the Long Term Athlete Development programme.

The school can already boast the recent success of Under-18 Welsh hockey international Lucy Butcher, while the girls U14 team have been blazing their way through the rounds in the national schools hockey competition.

Updated: 10:13 Wednesday, December 21, 2005