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Cannock Hockey Club have selected Zaun’s new Hockey Fencing to surround one of their pitches. Cannock Hockey club is the most successful National Premier League hockey club in the country, having won the title in four out of the last five years. While a match hockey ball weighs only 5.5 ounces, the high level of play at the club means that the ball can travel at speeds in excess of 80 mph. As a result pitch-side fencing is required to prevent the ball leaving the playing area and causing damage to property or injury to passers by, but ironically, such is the level of impact against the fence, the fence itself needs protecting. Traditionally, sacrificial wooden boards are used to protect the pitch fencing at ground level from these cannon-ball like impacts. However, these boards are quickly broken down and are expensive to replace. Once the boards are worn out, new ones must be purchased and a contractor brought in to fit them. This process is ongoing for the lifetime of the fence. Until now.
In response to this problem, Zaun have developed a hockey fencing system that does away with the need for wooden boards altogether. The lower 210mm of Zaun’s new Hockey Fencing system uses a high density of horizontal wires in a close 25x50mm mesh pattern to ensure that the panel is able to withstand the ball impacts. As this is integrated into the fence panels, the cost of the wooden boards is saved, as well as the initial board install costs and all costs associated with ongoing replacement.
The integrated hockey panel also means that the noise resulting from ball impacts is significantly less than the noise of impacts against wooden boards. The noise of ball impacts against wooden boards can be heard from several hundred meters away, and may cause problems if local residents and other amenity users complain. In some instances this has meant that hockey clubs have had to add rubber padding to the hockey boards, another cost and ongoing expense. The nature of the Zaun Hockey system means that the vibrations resulting from impacts are rapidly dissipated throughout the panel. This essentially means that the volume of impacts is significantly less than that of wooden boards. Furthermore, the system uses rubber EPDM inserts to insulate the panels from the posts. These inserts are put in place during installation and are a feature of all of Zaun’s sports fencing. They virtually eliminate ‘rattle’ during play as each panel is insulated from the rest of the fence line. Concerns over noise during play can affect planning permission for hockey pitches, and so Zaun’s quieter system may help planning applications progress more easily.
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