A new lay out for pitches - in compliance with the Rules of Hockey - has been circulated to all national associations and other parties concerned. This is as a consequence of changes to metric (back line).

A complete new design (lay-out) of the FIH tabulation of FIH approved products has been introduced and circulated, showing clearly "global", "standard" and "starter" pitches, as well as "unfilled", "sand-obscured" and "filled" pitches. The inventory will be circulated twice a year and is available on the FIH website (www.FIHockey.org).

New requirements for "standard" pitches will come into force on 01/01/2002, to narrow the bracket of ball roll requirements for (inter) national competitions. Some pitches that currently qualify as "standard" will be moved to the "starter" category at the end of this year. These have been indicated in the new tabulation.

The bi-annual inventory of synthetic pitches will be incorporated in the general FIH questionnaire. Apart from questions on synthetic pitches, information on the number of natural grass pitches will be sought.

Suppliers have introduced new products and these have been incorporated in the tabulation.

The "How to combat Algae and Moss" handout has been updated and will be circulated to national associations. Extra copies can be obtained from the FIH office in Brussels.

Individual advice on equipment is being given in an increasing number of cases.

French laboratory Labosport France has been accredited by FIH for laboratory and field tests. They are predominantly working in France.

Input has been submitted to the Hockey Rules Board for a clearer description of the stick in the Rules of Hockey.

The final draft of a maintenance manual for synthetic pitches, composed by John McBryde of Canada, has been approved and is about to be printed.

Irrigation manual John Giles of Australia is producing a handbook on pitch irrigation as a result of the increasing cost of water and the ecological consequences of extensive pitch irrigation. A first draft has been circulated to our committee members for comments.

Indoor hockey Discussions have taken place whether specific standards for floors for indoor hockey should be developed in view of FIH's plans for the indoor game. As most tournaments and competitions take place in third party accommodation, it was decided NOT to develop specific standards. However floors to be used should comply with the general standards for sports floors.

Tests are to be made to ascertain which type of balls should be used on "hard" and "soft" floors.

Tribute to Schneider Special tribute was paid to Dr. Kurt Schneider from Germany, a very valuable member of our committee for the last 10 years on the occasion of the last meeting of the Equipment Committee in its present format which was held in Brussels on April 20th.