Starting in 2028, water fields will be mandatory in the First “A” of Buenos Aires

The Buenos Aires Hockey Association confirmed a historic change looking ahead to the coming years, which will mark a before and after in sport. As reported in a statement from the Board of Directors in an official bulletin, Starting in 2028, the use of synthetic water courts will be mandatory for the women’s and men’s Metropolitan “A” Tournament.

Currently in the ladies Metro they have a water court Lomas, San Fernando, GEBA, City, Santa Bárbara, Banco Provincia, Italiano, Olivos and Belgrano Athletic and also St. Catherine’s is in the process of being assembled. In this way, the clubs that are currently in “A” and still use a synthetic sand court are: River Plate, Architecture, Banco Nación and San Lorenzo.

In the men’s Metro the story is different and all the clubs comply with the water court: San Fernando, Mitre, GEBA, City A and City B, Banco Provincia, San Martín, U. La Plata, Lomas, Quilmes, Ducilo, Santa Bárbara and SAG de Los Polvorines. Hurling has a sand court but is in the process of building a new water court.

In addition to these First “A” clubs, the teams from different categories that are building their water field are: San Albano, Hindu, CUBA and Liceo Naval. Until a few weeks ago, BACRC was on this list, but it has already finished the work and will open its field on Sunday, March 1 to carry out the Metropolitan “B” Tournament in 2026.

Part of the AHBA statement:

“The mere fact that all clubs, regardless of their sporting level, wish to build a water court, indicates in itself that this situation aims to achieve the highest level in the sports training of players and teams beyond the category. For all this, taking into consideration the evolution of hockey in recent years and the current standards in the development of high performance; in light of the mandate of our Statute to “encourage, promote, disseminate and develop field hockey”; and after an analysis carried out by the Board of Directors, We have resolved to advance in the implementation of the exclusive use of synthetic water fields in the matches of the Metropolitan Tournament of category “A” (Ladies and Gentlemen).

This measure was defined under a progressive implementation scheme aimed at accompanying clubs during the transition period. The requirement will begin to apply from the start of the 2028 Metropolitan Tournament exclusively for the Ladies and Gentlemen Tournaments of category “A”. A detail regarding the adaptation, regulation and implementation of the measure for the 2028 Tournament will soon be made available to Affiliates. The start of the requirement in 2028 reflects the Association’s will to provide predictability, planning time and effective support, allowing each institution to evaluate alternatives, plan and manage the resources necessary for their adaptation.”

The complete statement from the AHBA on the mandatory nature of synthetic water grass fields starting in 2028 can be read here.