ABERYSTWYTH University has been getting stick from local hockey teams who are having to travel to Lampeter to play matches.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams at the university, as well as other local clubs, have been left without a pitch to play on in the town after the current university all-weather pitch was converted to a 3G pitch.

That has prompted a former Aberystwyth University hockey captain to appeal for better facilities warning that the “heritage of Aberystwyth-based hockey” is under threat.

Richard Sanders, a student at Aberystwyth University in the 1970s and who is a member of the Aberiginals, a team mostly made up of former staff and students from the university, has written an open letter to university authorities after learning that the lack of a pitch had left university teams having to play ‘home’ matches at Lampeter.

He said: “It is therefore with huge disappointment that we learnt of the current issues with the upgrade of the town’s only astro pitch to a 3G surface - which is fundamentally unsuitable for league hockey - and that Aberystwyth students are now forced to play home games in Lampeter."

Aberystwyth University said the problem had been caused by a decision by Hockey Wales to immediately introduce regulations that were due to apply to pitches installed in 2018.

“In August, new standards for hockey pitches fitted from January 2018 were announced. BUCS, the governing body for UK university sport, has confirmed that Aberystwyth’s new 3G carpet is FIH compliant and suitable for all BUCS home games and training," a spokesperson said.

"However, Hockey Wales has decided to apply the 2018 standards immediately and has ruled that their regional league matches can no longer be played on short-pile 3G carpets."

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