KOMBINASI NEWS
New pitch for Kombinasi(?) Indonesia is a fascinating country; things which are really necessary and required are not available, and some things which are absolutely not necessary pop up as if it cost nothing. One of the latter is the new astro hockey pitch in central Jakarta. The pitch is meant to replace the current astro pitch, which will be moved to Sulawesi (??). Anyway, whatever the reasons, don't complain if they throw something like an IHF approved astro pitch to you for free. So we didn't. However, as to be expected, this project should have to pass some rocky roads before being finalized. First of all they placed the fence on the outer lines of the pitch. This is quite inconvenient to say the least, it will more look like indoor hockey. One advantage however is the fact that the ball never will be 'out' any more. |
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Next to that, the light posts seem to be 6 meters too short. 12 instead of 18 meters, the 33% difference probably disappeared probably in the pocket of the local contractor.
The IHF (International Hockey Federation) representative could not enter the country as the laser equipment he carried with him in order to measure the proper size and curves of the pitch was considered highly dangerous. Potential foreign attacks were in the making, so the gentleman was forced to leave the country again, which left the pitch uncertified for another couple of months.
Now we have 2 'half' pitches. The 'old' pitch, where they already
removed the water pumps and part of the electrical switch board for the
light posts. And the 'new' pitch where the light posts are too short,
so the light shines straight into your face. The local representative
of the sports authorities suggested this shouldn't be such a problem if
the players should were sunglasses. Of course...
Now we are 'only' waiting for the 'green light' from the local sports complex authorities. Theoretically this should be no issue, however this is Indonesia, so maybe next ZOAT in Jakarta will still be on our former pitch..
