New centre for tennis and hockey

Jul 2 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

KILGRASTON School has unveiled their new Centre of Excellence for hockey and tennis, which will form the centre piece of an ongoing multi-million-pound investment in sporting facilities.

The centre comprises a new full size flood-lit, all-weather hockey pitch and eight newly refurbished tennis courts.

The pitch was officially opened by retired Kilgraston head of physical education, Mrs Susan Rhodes.

Susan had long campaigned to have such a facility at Kilgraston and her dream was finally realised as she cut the blue ribbon and scored the first goal to the delight of the rest of the school.

It is hoped that the pitch will become the home of Perthshire hockey and a training centre for elite players from across Scotland.

Director of sport and former GB hockey captain, Pauline Stott, hopes the new facilities can be used to attract more people to sport and can be utilised in the expansion of grass-roots hockey and tennis across Perthshire and beyond.

The exciting £500,000 development is the latest phase of a continued investment in sport at Kilgraston, with other recent projects including a 25m indoor swimming pool and an on-site equestrian centre with 60m x40m floodlit arena – the only one of its kind at a school in Scotland.

A school spokesman said: “All the development is very exciting for Kilgraston School and we are delighted to have the most up to date facilities. We are determined to succeed in making our school a place to enjoy sport and to nurture the skills of young athletes, both now and for the future.”