field of dreams

Welcome to Our New Field

The school's new field is getting a great deal of use. We are renting it out on a daily basis to local field hockey and soccer teams. Those interested in renting time should contact the school by email.

During Semana Santa the Venezuelan Field Hockey Federation organized a tournament for teams from Venezuela, Germany, Cuba and the Netherlands. This was the first of what will be many tournaments in this sport. The end result should be a significant improvement in Venezuela's Field Hockey results because for the first time in their history, the local teams can practice on the same type of field that is used in international events outside of the country.

On April 20-22 CIC hosted a VANAS tournament which featured girls basketball and boys soccer. Once again, our new field was the centerpiece of this event. All the visiting teams were extremely impressed with the field's quality and ease of play. Because of its uniform surface, the teams' play was dictated by the players' skills, not the field's surface.

The one-half million dollar capital investment for construction was authorized by the CIC School Board in 2004 in conjunction with investments by the International and local Venezuelan Hockey Federations to meet exacting professional standards for play, and to significantly upgrade the school's existing grass field. The 5,629 square meter field has an artificial-grass surface manufactured by and imported from Europe. It is one of the best, if not the best, artificial fields in the country. Construction started in January 2005.

The field is equipped with lights so that it can be used at night. An artificial surface demands that the school install a very high quality base for the surface. The project has been made more time-consuming by the present field's being made of backfilled soil. This has meant that the base has been harder to build, and the light fixtures' bases are more complex than they would be if the ground were naturally solid.

Artificial-grass fields avoid the vagaries of field use caused by severe rains and drought, common phenomena in the Caracas climate. The predictable regularity of the field and an extra cushioning layer that will be installed with the new surface will also greatly reduce the chance of injury which is common while using fields of lesser quality.

The Venezuelan Hockey Federation will use the CIC field for practice and competition including international events under lighting sufficient for TV coverage. CIC students will regularly use the field for physical education classes, soccer and field hockey practice sessions, and intramural and Venezuelan school competition events. Caracas soccer teams are lining up to rent the field when CIC is not using it, which will offset part of the field's initial cost and running expenses.

The CIC School Board plans to follow these field improvements by constructing a modern swimming pool and several tennis courts, all of which will fit easily in CIC's eight-acre campus.