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Post by poweriguy on Jun 4, 2006 22:36:30 GMT -6
Right now, one school in our section is building a new stadium and they have put in Field Turf. This is something new for our area since they are the only school doing this, and eveybody else has natural grass. Not even Fresno State has field turf. I doubt many more schools will make the investment in field turf since it's pretty expencive. For those of you who coach at or play at place that have field turf: What is it like? I've never even seen astroturf let alone field turf. What do your players think of it? As a coach, do you have to adjust in anyway to a field turf surface? I hear it tends to get hot on sunny days, it's that true, or a problem? What what other thoughts do you have on the suff......
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Post by bulldog on Jun 4, 2006 22:43:40 GMT -6
It's great stuff and the kids love it. The best advantage is that it drains and you get a true surface even in a downpour. We practice on it every day. The kids use regular cleats and we have really had to make no adjustments to accomodate the turf. The biggest problem with it is that the chipped rubber that it uses is very fine. It sticks to your shoes and will follow you all the way home and onto your flooring. My wife hates it. It is definitely hotter than grass - and you will see a couple of degrees difference. Down in Fresno, you guys get the HEAT no matter the surface. You might want to invest in a WaterBoy or two to help the kids . . .
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Post by cqmiller on Jun 5, 2006 6:10:19 GMT -6
I love the stuff. Played on it for 2 years in college, and the first high school I coached at had it. Just use normal cleats on it, NOT metal tips, and you will be fine. Gives you a practice field AND a game field at the same time, so you don't have to worry about your field getting tore up by the soccer team, or from overuse by the football team.
As far as the cost, EVERYBODY I've talked to that had it has said that is was a GREAT investment. I'm sure the cost of Watering a grass field (AND PRACTICE FIELD TOO) in the Fresno Area has to be expensive, year in - and year out. Plus you have to re-sod the field at least once every few years. All that $$ adds up fast. With the field-turf, you pay a lot at the beginning, but then you start saving money every year, from then on out, by not having to keep up 2 grass fields.
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Post by pegleg on Jun 5, 2006 12:54:23 GMT -6
we practice on it everyday and play on it 9 out of 10 weeks (and every week in the playoffs).
love it for the reasons mentioned above. i also like it because it gives you a true surface. unlike grass fields you know what you will get every week. even good grass fields have variance in length, and undilations, field turf does not. also, with high used fields, by week 7 or 8 the best grass fields are torn all to hell, field turf doesn't have this problem. the field you play on week 1 will be the same week 13 with field turf.
our skill kids prefer screw in cleats while our linemen prefer the molded variety, much like they would pick for grass fields.
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Post by coachveer on Jun 5, 2006 15:48:58 GMT -6
we ljust love to play on it. I just wish our school board would open up the purse strings.
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Post by cookiemonster on Jun 5, 2006 17:20:00 GMT -6
Do any of you have problems slipping on the field turf. We also play on it alot and I think it is slik at times.
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Post by hchscoachtom on Jun 5, 2006 19:16:27 GMT -6
On hot sunny days you can expect the field temperature to be almost 20 degrees hotter then air temp. so if air temp. is 85 degrees, you can expect field temp. to be close to 100. keep the boys hydrated. Shoes, regular cleats work fine, don't use long screw in cleats though, keep the shorter ones in your shoe. Wear elbow and knee pads & gloves or they will get rug burns. The surface is great for foul weather, but it does get terribly hot on hot sunny days. we will play 6 of 9 regular season games on the stuff up here in Michigan. Lots of schools going to it.
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Post by hchscoachtom on Jun 5, 2006 19:21:45 GMT -6
More thoughts, our field turf is about 10 years old, it's starting to get thinned out. Not a long blade of grass surface. The surface is much like a "buzz" cut at the barber. But, it is still softer then the old astro turf. Due the shorter blade length, the surface is faster. Also balls bounce higher & faster.
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Post by firebird on Jun 6, 2006 2:33:38 GMT -6
Our home field is a SportExe field (basically same as FieldTurf, check Baltimore Ravens and Cal Bears field for example) and we absolutely love the stuff. Temp was 108 degrees and we had skill work on the field today (although we went at 6:30 in the evening). True it is a little bit hotter, but you don't have the added humidity that you get with a grass field, in my book an even trade. We actually have a sprinkler system built into the field so that we can flood it with water if we wish in order to cool it off. We used it twice last year and felt that although it did cool down the turf, it made the field more uncomfortable with the added humidity. We have done work on the field with temps over 110 degrees, but truthfully when it gets that hot, we usually have evening practices. Great stuff, has saved us a ton of money already in maintenance.
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Post by poweriguy on Jun 6, 2006 9:32:51 GMT -6
I'm sure the cost of Watering a grass field (AND PRACTICE FIELD TOO) in the Fresno Area has to be expensive, year in - and year out. Plus you have to re-sod the field at least once every few years. All that $$ adds up fast. With the field-turf, you pay a lot at the beginning, but then you start saving money every year, from then on out, by not having to keep up 2 grass fields. I hear you man! It makes sense to us, but when most school districts around here just have the custodians shut off the water and neglect the fields all summer, instead of taking care of them.Then two weeks before the opening game of the season they would basically flood the field trying to green it up. it's kind of hard to pitch the investment in field turf. Last summer , it was us coaches that were making sure that the sprinklers ran. We would practice on one side of the field, while the water ran on the other half. So yeah I wish we had the field turf.
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Post by cqmiller on Jun 6, 2006 9:44:52 GMT -6
Do you guys have any successful alumni that are looking for a big tax write off? I know of a school here in Utah that had a car dealer that was an alum donate 100,000 to get the team started, and the players raised more than 50,000 in 2 years to get it put in.
A REALLY RICH guy donated 1,000,000 (not even joking) to one of the poorest schools in the state, to get a BASEBALL FIELD PUT IN. It is nicer than the AAA team's field here. It is by far the nicest field I've EVER seen in person. (never been to a Major League game before)
Shop around and see if you can get a deal on someone to install it for free, or whatever you can do. I know the school districts in the St. George area (15 miles from Arizona) are putting field turf in ALL the schools down there in the next few years. They apparently have seen the #'s, and think it's a good investment. Contact someone from down there in the district and see if they will send you some of their figures that they used to approve the fields. Might help you convince your school district to pony up......
I think that field turf is the best surface to play on by far...even in the heat
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Post by wingt74 on Jun 6, 2006 9:52:26 GMT -6
Went to a coach's clinic...and spent time on a field with field turf.
Feedback? I watched kids go trough drills...and maybe they didn't have the right cleats on, but they seemed to slip a lot. But otherwise, it looked beautiful and had 100% more cushion compared to astroturf.
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Post by wingt74 on Jun 6, 2006 9:55:06 GMT -6
firebird - any complaints about the smell of the field in the heat?
It was sunny and 80 at my clinic and the hot rubber was making me a little sick...
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Post by coachtroy54 on Jun 6, 2006 16:42:58 GMT -6
It is great but you have got to practice on it so that the players can get a feel for runnning, cutting stoping and falling on it.
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