NEWTON - Barinder Rasode and the One Surrey team were on hand at Tamanawis Park Monday (Oct. 20) to announce their plans to build a third field hockey field at the site if elected.
Rasode estimates the field would cost approximately $3 million and would make the park the "hub of field hockey in North America."
"With another field, we will be the biggest and best location to nurture local talent," she said.
When asked about the location of the proposed field, Rasode said a third pitch at Tamanawis Park would create a field hockey "community".
"When you have broken off fields in different areas, it doesn't create that culture of community," said the mayoral candidate. "One thing that we've learned is the second family to lots of lots of kids is their sporting community. To have that in one facility really adds value to that."
Priya Randhawa, a member of the women's junior national field hockey team, is fully backing the plan for another field.
"I think it would help tremendously because right now with all of the clubs, it gets busy. We can't bring any more kids into the program because we don't have the facilities and practice times get shorter and shorter every year. I think with another field it would help open it up and bring more children into it," Randhawa said.
The 19-year-old Surrey resident was part of the junior women's team that finished 13th at the 2013 Women's Junior World Cup in Germany.
Randhawa, who is currently training with the senior women's national team, said there is no other facility like this in Surrey and mentioned that a turf field isn't up to par with the fields at Tamanawis Park.