New Sheepmount development

Junior Hockey programme - official launch

(Date of issue: Tuesday, 28 April 2009)

A new junior hockey programme will be officially launched at The Sheepmount’s synthetic pitch tomorrow (Wednesday, 29 April).

A special one-off event has been organised with four local primary schools between 1pm and 3pm. It will provide a ‘taster’ to the sport and has been drawn together by Carlisle City Council’s Sport and Recreation Team with support from four third-year Sports Development students from the University of Cumbria.

Around 60 school pupils aged between 9 and 11 years old are expected to attend the event and will be representing Caldew Lea, Stanwix, Kingmoor Junior and Brook Street primary schools. Hockey related activities will be provided during the afternoon.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson, said:

"The redevelopment work at The Sheepmount has resulted in the athletics and football stadium becoming one of the region’s premier sports facilities. The synthetic pitch plans has helped it develop into a multi-sports venue providing an extensive range of facilities.

"The new Junior Hockey programme was set up around a month ago and has already attracted a lot of interest. We want to encourage more people to get involved in sport and use the excellent facilities on offer on their doorstep."

Carlisle City Council has been working alongside the newly merged Carlisle Hockey Club (formerly men’s and ladies clubs) to set up a junior development section for them. Sessions started around one month ago. They are open to anybody in years 5, 6 and 7 (9 – 11 year olds) and have already attracted around 25-30 attendees. They are held every Wednesday night between 7pm and 8pm.

To find out more about the Junior Hockey programme, telephone 01228 817581.