The city’s chance to host the nationally renowned KC March Hockey Easter Tournament in 2025 is slipping away, as Buffalo Flats and Bunker’s Hill astro turfs continue to face slews of unchecked vandalism and rampant theft.
The event is a huge money spinner for the host city and sees close to five clubs from each province in the country participating. This means an influx of more than 2,000 visitors to the city contributing thousands towards the local economy.
Parkside Hockey Club was selected to host in 2025, which will be the first time for Border hockey club to do so since 2019, however conditions at both astro turfs will either force the club to forfeit hosting or severely cut down on the intended festival programme.
Since 2020, the Buffalo Flats astro turf has faced relentless vandalism and theft that will cost millions to repair. Every scrap of valuable infrastructure has been stolen and thieves have made off with pieces of the turf itself as well as the palisade fencing.
According to members of the Buffalo Flats Patrol Group, the facility has now become a catalyst for crime, provoking increased break-ins and robberies as well as substance abuse in the surrounding community.
The Bunkers Hill astro was hit with a debilitating break-in in April last year, with the cost of repairs estimated at R100,000. The facility’s floodlights were badly damaged during the hailstorms in July 2023, to the extent that it was declared unsafe, which put an end to hockey in the city for months. This resulted in Border Hockey’s former main sponsor, Buco, deciding not to renew its contract.
Though months have passed since then, Border Hockey said the municipality had not yet attended to the repairing the floodlights and as a result, hockey has partially resumed at Bunker’s Hill, though not in the evenings.
Former Border Hockey president, Nick Flavio, said in 2023 that the Bunker’s Hill astro was almost nine years beyond its replacement date.
Current Border Hockey president and chair of Parkside Hockey Club, Renato Abrahams, said that challenges faced by the astro turfs had been a huge blow to the development of hockey at club and school level and would be exacerbated if the city forfeited hosting the Easter tournament.
He said: “Parkside Hockey Club revived this tournament in 1995 and to be forced to give it up would be devastating.
“It [KC March Easter Tournament] only comes around every 10 or more years, and to forfeit hosting would result in a major loss of revenue that would impact the sustainability of the club.
“It would also be a loss to our Border Hockey Association and Buffalo City because there are spin-offs to be gained from major sporting events.
“With only Bunker’s Hill astro turf being available and only partially given it has no floodlights, we won’t be able to host two sections of the Easter tournament, as it consists of 32 teams which will force us to decline entries. We are hoping that one of our schools will accommodate us over the Easter weekend.”
Parkside hockey captain Reberto Bosman said it was important for the municipality and Border Hockey to work together to ensure the tournament was retained in the city.
“Hosting this prestigious tournament would undoubtedly raise the profile of hockey in Buffalo City. The exposure would help attract more support from local schools and sponsors, creating more opportunities for development programs which is crucial to growing the sport in the disadvantaged areas of our city,” Bosman said.
“There needs to be collaborative effort between the clubs, local sports council and the municipality to secure necessary funding for repairs, followed by adequate security and proper fencing to prevent further vandalism before restoring the facility.”
SA Hockey Association project manager Gary Dolley said that Parkside Hockey would need to make a call quickly on whether it had the capacity to host the tournament, which could only be played on an astro turf that is properly maintained, for fear of player safety.
Dolley said, with the deterioration of the Buffalo Flats and Bunkers Hill astro turfs, supporting local club and school leagues was in jeopardy and municipal and provincial support for facility security and maintenance urgently needed to step in, lest hockey in the Border region died out completely in the coming years.
BCMM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya and Eastern Cape department of sports, recreation, arts and culture spokesperson Andile Nduna did not respond to questions by print deadline.
Researchers for the African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure have found that sports tourism events have economic and social benefits for a city and can be used as a vehicle for improving the quality of life of host communities by attracting visitors who contribute to the economic wellbeing of locals.
Research showed that during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, domestic and international tourists to Gqeberha spent millions of rand in the city.
