The third in the ‘Installation of the Lighting for Sports’ series takes us through lighting for hockey.

Whether it be field or ice, this is evidence to prove hockey has origins dating back to Roman and Greek times. The modern sport many of us know today is often played in schools, at amateur and professional levels including the Olympic games.

When lighting a hockey pitch, meticulous attention must be paid to ensure lighting adheres to the relevant standards. This enhances the playing and viewing experience for participants and spectators due to excellent uniformity and colour rendering.

The Kingfisher Sports Team have many years’ experience creating innovative lighting schemes for many sports applications including Sports Wales Hockey Pitch and Leeds Grammar Schools facilities.

The Standards

There are two governing bodies that set the standard foundations for illuminating Hockey pitches - Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) and British Standards.

Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH)

The FIH describes both televised and non-televised pitches and how you would need to adapt the lighting for both. With Televised games, the focus is on both horizontal and vertical illuminance to ensure a higher clarity picture for viewers at home. You can see the separation in the table below with the different TV’s and how it impacts levels.

British Standards

Categorised into three levels of play, BS EN 12193 makes reference to outdoor hockey and demonstrates that higher lux levels are needed for the higher the level of play. For Class I professional pitches, we can see 500lx is the illuminance level needed with 0.7 uniformity. See the below for more.

Choosing the best luminaire for these schemes is essential but the Kingfisher Sport Team have all the knowledge and experience to guide you through this process. We have a specialist collection of flood lights that utilise state-of-the-art technology systems to bring you the best possible results.

The in-house Lighting Design Team have created many hockey schemes over the years and are best placed to design the perfect scheme for your site. They’ll advise on luminaires and where to position them around the site to achieve accurate levels and ensure the perfect uniformity for your pitch.

To find out more about our services browse our website and contact our team on 01623 703109