The 2014 Hockey World Cup was held from 31 May to 15 June 2014 at the Kyocera Stadium and the GreenFields Stadium in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Kyocera stadium, home base of soccer club ADO Den Haag, received a temporarily new surface of artificial grass called GreenFields TX.
The story behind the development of this synthetic turf system (also known as artificial grass) is really interesting because GreenFields TX was created especially for the 2014 Hockey World Cup and involved a methodology called “validated learning” known as a new, very effective way of product development used in the lean startup movement.
GreenFields, the company that created the winning synthetic turf system, first applied research created for the developing of artificial grass for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and built a pitch to test the TX product, it was installed at Dutch Hockeyclub Klein Zwitserland. They then asked professional Players and coaches for feedback (validation), and their opinion (new discovery) led to new adjustments.
As the result of this process, a new revolutionary synthetic turf system called GreenFields TX product was improved to become the optimal playing surface. It’s revolutionary because it addresses all requests from players and it is technically advanced. It truly is a synthetic turf-built by players for players.
The fact that GreenFields TX artificial grass is the ideal environment for fast hockey games is widely confirmed by many professional hockey teams that use it for their home games and training sessions. This artificial grass system is now installed in 11 hockey clubs in the Netherlands, 1 in Germany and soon in Australia. TenCate is a publicly-listed company that emphasizes the importance of transparency and a good Annual Report. Read more here about the modern-day Annual Report.