Thursday, March 3rd, 2021 | The Infrastructure of the next Pan American and Parapan American Games continues its development and this Thursday a new milestone was achieved with the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Field Hockey Training and Competition Centre, within the National Stadium Sports Park, in Ñuñoa district.
The Sports Minister, Cecilia Pérez; the Sub-secretary of Sports, Andrés Otero; the Director of the National Sports Institute, Sofía Rengifo; the Vice-president of the Chilean Olympic Committee, Aquiles Gómez; the CEO of the Santiago 2023 Corporation, Felipe De Pablo, and the head of the Chilean Hockey Federation, Walter Kramer participated in the ceremony.
Regarding the inauguration of the venue, the Minister highlighted the great moment the discipline is going through in the country, with the women’s and men’s teams, known as the ‘Diablas’ and ‘Diablos’, qualifying for their first World Championships. “It is exciting because this sport infrastructure was overdue and necessary for a sport that has given our country so much, that has shown us immense joy in the last months,” she mentioned.
SANTIAGO 2023’S CEO APPRECIATED THE LEGACY OF THE GAMES
The sport complex, which is the first public field for this sport, includes two fields certified by the International Hockey Federation, and are completely equipped with a watering system, substitutes benches, technical officials cabins, video tower, electronic scoreboard and modern lighting, with an investment of 7.5 million dollars.
Santiago 2023’s CEO, Felipe De Pablo, highlighted that “we can already see the legacy, with cutting-edge infrastructure, and open to the people within Ñuñoa at an iconic location for national sports as is the National Stadium.”
The brand-new fields are a part of the new Sports Park at the Stadium, which will be the main focus of the Pan American Games from October 20th through November 5th next year, followed by the Parapan American Games from November 17th through the 25th gathering almost 9.000 athletes from 41 countries within the Americas region between both events.
FIELD HOCKEY TRAINING AND COMPETITION CENTRE
Location: Within National Stadium Sports Park (behind the southern stands of the coliseum)
District: Ñuñoa - Santiago
Surface: Special synthetic field for Hockey
Number of fields: 2
Inauguration: March 3rd, 2022
PAN AMERICAN GAMES FIELD HOCKEY
MEN’S
Debut: Winnipeg 1967
Current Champion: Argentina
Number of championships per country: Argentina 10; and Canada 4
Pan American Ranking at Tokyo 2020: Argentina, fourth place; and Canada, eliminated in groups phase
Best Pan American Ranking at Olympic Games: Argentina, gold in Río 2016
WOMEN’S
Debut: Indianapolis 1987
Current Champion: Argentina
Number of championships per country: Argentina 7; and United States 2
Pan American Ranking at Tokyo 2020: Argentina, silver
Best Pan American Ranking at Olympic Games: Argentina, silver at Sidney 2000, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020
The new Field Hockey fields within the National Stadium Sports Park are the first publicly owned fields and seek to popularize this sport amongst young people in Ñuñoa and adjacent districts.
An exhibition match with mixed teams composed by national team players marked the debut of the world-class fields.
Southward view from the second field of the Field Hockey Centre at the National Stadium Park, highlighting the height of the back fence and the entry gates for maintenance personnel and emergency vehicles.
It is a requirement for large competitions to have a “water field”, name given since humidity at a synthetic field reduces the friction and increases the ball’s rolling speed.
