Ben Rhydding netted its share of a £1.8 million grant from the Community Club Development Programme and replaced its ageing Astroturf pitch with a state-of-the-art sand-dressed surface that is the envy of its rivals.

The club also upgraded its floodlighting and put up new fencing around the ground. Although it has a growing membership locally, the club is committed to offering the wider community the chance to use the refurbished facility.

"We already have coaches who are out there in the community and we have links with both Leeds universities and Bradford University," said Ben Rhydding Men's Club President Robin Snook.

"We know we are geographically challenged in this area – it isn't the easiest place for people in Leeds or Bradford to get to but we would say come over and take a look at these new facilities. We are a welcoming club."

Ben Rhydding Ladies' team plays in the English National League and the Men in the Northern Premier League. The Junior Section is one of the club's success stories with membership growing from 80 a decade ago to around 250 boys and girls today.

Men's coach Gian Singh Virdi, who played for the Kenyan hockey team in the 1972 Olympic Games, says the new pitch surface is one of the best he has seen: "Now we want to make Ben Rhydding the best hockey club in Yorkshire, if not the country."

The club also managed to recycle much of the old playing surface, passing on some of the Astroturf to local golf clubs for use as practice tee areas and the old rubber pad to a school involved in a community project in nearby Beamsley.