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Post by buckeye7525 on Nov 16, 2010 7:27:34 GMT -6
Guys, I am currently taking a class for my masters and the final project is a grant writing proposal. Now, the professor is being good about this and letting myself and my partner (who is also a football coach) put a grant proposal together for getting field turf.
My question to some of you guys that utilize field turf, what are the major benefits of having field turf that you have personally experienced?
I've looked at the Field Turf website and also some other articles comparing the cost and benefits of utilizing Field Turf v. Grass.
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Post by fballcoachg on Nov 16, 2010 7:44:48 GMT -6
One thing, depending on what state you are in, is revenue from hosting playoff games if they do it at nuetral sites.
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Post by bucksweepdotcom on Nov 16, 2010 7:47:19 GMT -6
Community year round use with out threat of wearing the field out.
PE classes year round all-day use.
One the biggest advantages for us this year it is makes practice in rain more productive.
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Post by Coach.A on Nov 16, 2010 8:34:21 GMT -6
FieldTurf advantages:
- You don't have to water, cut, fertilize, or paint the field.
- As odd as it seems, FieldTurf is the "Green" choice...more environmentally friendly
- Safer = less injuries from poor field conditions
- Potential to generate revenue by renting out the field to community groups
- Extended playing season. Can start sooner in the Spring and run later into the fall / winter without damaging the field
- Greater opportunity to host major sporting events (e.g. championships, tournaments,clinics and camps)
- Potential to put a bubble over the filed and use / rent it for the winter
- Recruiting -- more kids will come to play on your fancy field
- You can now practice and even play double or triple headers on the field without damaging it (even in the rain). This means you don't have to maintain two fields (a practice field and a game field).
- Get soccer on board. They would love to pay to use the field.
I've wrote several proposals so far, but have yet to get my wish.
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Post by dacoordinator on Nov 16, 2010 8:50:23 GMT -6
simply put in a year or two the field pays for itself... with you eliminating the cost of cutting, painting, fertilizing, and watering. The field just pays for itself.
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Post by bobgoodman on Nov 16, 2010 9:04:07 GMT -6
One feature that's both a plus and a minus is that the chopped black tires warm up more in the sun. That's a plus when it's cold, a minus when it's hot.
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Post by buckeye7525 on Nov 16, 2010 9:18:53 GMT -6
Steelhawk, can you explain how Field Turf is actually "green friendly"
Would any of you gentlemen mind PMing me with your name and the school that you coach at, if you didn't mind being mentioned in this proposal? I've never written a grant before so I don't know if it would be useful to include thoughts of individuals with experience on it, along with statistics but it might be handy information to have available.
Again, thanks for the help if my grad class.
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Post by bobgoodman on Nov 16, 2010 9:39:06 GMT -6
Steelhawk, can you explain how Field Turf is actually "green friendly" I can explain that, although maybe not as well as Steelhawk. Most of the difference is maintenance chemicals. Grass needs fertilizing and de-weeding, and sometimes pest control. Then there's the energy consumption in seeding & cutting by machine. The Field Turf also provides a means of "disposal" for old tires. Also, when you crown a field for drainage you're causing rain to run off the land that much faster. Field Turf can be flat as a pancake and just soak thru. As to non-environmental considerations, the plastic still gives turf burn, though, as I got on my forearm this year while demonstrating the "shoeshine" block. However, no concern about grass allergy! |
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Post by Coach.A on Nov 16, 2010 9:43:01 GMT -6
FieldTurf is the "green" choice because:
- The lawnmowers used to cut grass fields emit huge amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere...you don't need to cut FieldTurf.
- Many of the fertilizers used on grass are harmful to the environment.
- You don't waste water on it.
- The paint (and production of aresol paint cans) used to line the field is harmful to the environment.
- Old tires are used in the production process of field turf...better than having them sit in landfills.
- Because a FieldTurf field can handle a greater volume of use (basically it can be used from the early morning to as late as you want to leave the lights on), the demand for more grass fields is reduced. This means less fields that need to be cut, watered, fertilized, painted, etc. Less of the natural environment / vegetation needs to be disrupted to build new grass fields. It will significantly reduce the ecological footprint of the region where it is intalled.
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Post by champ93 on Nov 16, 2010 16:19:44 GMT -6
One feature that's both a plus and a minus is that the chopped black tires warm up more in the sun. That's a plus when it's cold, a minus when it's hot. According to the manufacturer's presentation last spring for our new field (3 different companies), it's not the black rubber that caused the increase in heat, it's the actual fibers of the "grass" that do this. At least one of the companies has a new reflective material that reduces this. I believe it was Astroturf (formerly General Sports). |
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Post by rcole on Nov 16, 2010 19:39:31 GMT -6
So what is the ballpark cost of one full game Field?
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Post by champ93 on Nov 16, 2010 20:15:37 GMT -6
It depends on what additional features you want as well as size. Extravagant center field logos, letters in endzones, how wide the field is beyond football width, turfed D-zones, hashes, outlines on numbers, etc.
We are putting a very nice field from Field Turf (vs another brand) with many of the above features (I do not remember the actual square footage) for just a little over $400,000. That does not include site-prep work. I was not privy to that number.
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Post by Coach.A on Nov 16, 2010 21:53:20 GMT -6
For just the field, it would cost approximately 1.2 million dollars.
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Post by coachguy83 on Nov 16, 2010 22:55:46 GMT -6
I recieved a state coaches association newsletter in the mail today that has an ad from FieldTurf in it. According to a 5 year study they performed their product lessened the occurance and severity of many different types of injuries. They also claim to lessen the chance of a player suffering head trauma versus grass and other artifical surfaces.
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Post by calicoachh on Nov 17, 2010 13:54:57 GMT -6
it is great for practice(no more moving around the field to save the grass. PE classes love it because the lines are always there (for us football and soccer) no down time when it was being cut or painted. great in the rain.
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Post by airman on Nov 17, 2010 17:42:05 GMT -6
I know a college who is going to field turf and while there is many benefits there is one drawback is the life of turf is typically 10 to 12 years depending on how much you use it. if it is a game field only then you can get 15 yrs out of it. if it is multiuse games only then about 12. if you play games on it and practice on it, it will last a decade so you have to figure 1.2 million every decade or $100,000 a year basically. most schools I know do not put $100,000 grand into their field annually if it is grass.
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Post by buckeye7525 on Nov 17, 2010 18:42:53 GMT -6
Yea I kind of noticed that as I went through some of the statistics I started to notice that. Our AD also brought that up when we were having a conversation the other day. I did some discussion with a local HS AD who uses field turf and he estimates that it has saved them at least 100,000 a year.
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Post by bobgoodman on Nov 17, 2010 18:46:30 GMT -6
For just the field, it would cost approximately 1.2 million dollars. How does that break down between materials & labor? Could you buy it as a kit and DIY? |
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Post by blb on Nov 17, 2010 18:48:52 GMT -6
Benifits (sic) of Field Turf is if you have community, school board, and/or administration that will pay to install it is you are working in a place that gives a dam about HS football.
And - 7525, if you are indeed working on your Masters':
Pay more attention to your spelling ("benefits") or learn to use Spell Check feature.
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Post by buckeye7525 on Nov 18, 2010 9:09:26 GMT -6
Thanks for the advice
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Post by spos21ram on Nov 18, 2010 9:15:20 GMT -6
My final Master's class was GRANT WRITING and I did the same exact thing. I have the final copy and a Power Point Presentation if you'd like to look at it.
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Post by bucksweepdotcom on Nov 18, 2010 12:45:56 GMT -6
Benifits (sic) of Field Turf is if you have community, school board, and/or administration that will pay to install it is you are working in a place that gives a dam about HS football. And - 7525, if you are indeed working on your Masters': Pay more attention to your spelling ("benefits") or learn to use Spell Check feature. Yikes the spelling police! Second only to the grammar police! |
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Post by blb on Nov 18, 2010 12:49:45 GMT -6
Benifits (sic) of Field Turf is if you have community, school board, and/or administration that will pay to install it is you are working in a place that gives a dam about HS football. And - 7525, if you are indeed working on your Masters': Pay more attention to your spelling ("benefits") or learn to use Spell Check feature. Yikes the spelling police! Second only to the grammar police! You think the Prof reading his Masters' thesis won't be paying attention to spelling (and grammar, too, for that matter)? Just trying to help. |
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Post by champ93 on Nov 18, 2010 13:28:26 GMT -6
For just the field, it would cost approximately 1.2 million dollars. How does that break down between materials & labor? Could you buy it as a kit and DIY? The number I quoted ($400,000) (which, by the way, is being worked on right now as I type) was for materials and labor for the field itself. Nothing for site work. Having watched most of the site work be done, there's too much of an investment to try this as a DIY. Too many things need to be done right or you'll end up with a lumpy, crooked field that doesn't drain well. Then you'll be forced to do all repairs yourself for the life of the field. |
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Post by rollingthunder on Nov 23, 2010 19:27:32 GMT -6
One feature that's both a plus and a minus is that the chopped black tires warm up more in the sun. That's a plus when it's cold, a minus when it's hot. According to the manufacturer's presentation last spring for our new field (3 different companies), it's not the black rubber that caused the increase in heat, it's the actual fibers of the "grass" that do this. At least one of the companies has a new reflective material that reduces this. I believe it was Astroturf (formerly General Sports). This is correct. I shot a laser pointer thermometer at ours in the heat of the summer. The green fibers were at least 20 degrees hotter than the white fibers. They are a little unpleasant in the summer, but great the rest of the year. Don't cut corners on the sub-surface. We did, and our field does not drain as well as most. |
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Post by coachd5085 on Nov 24, 2010 10:08:31 GMT -6
Has anyone here had a Field Turf field for 10-12 years? (expected life of field)
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Post by mnike23 on May 24, 2022 5:52:25 GMT -6
I know a college who is going to field turf and while there is many benefits there is one drawback is the life of turf is typically 10 to 12 years depending on how much you use it. if it is a game field only then you can get 15 yrs out of it. if it is multiuse games only then about 12. if you play games on it and practice on it, it will last a decade so you have to figure 1.2 million every decade or $100,000 a year basically. most schools I know do not put $100,000 grand into their field annually if it is grass. does not cost 1.2 every time, over 400k is for site prep. you would be replacing the turf it self for roughly 1/3rd of the cost of new. |
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Post by larrymoe on May 24, 2022 6:54:37 GMT -6
I know a college who is going to field turf and while there is many benefits there is one drawback is the life of turf is typically 10 to 12 years depending on how much you use it. if it is a game field only then you can get 15 yrs out of it. if it is multiuse games only then about 12. if you play games on it and practice on it, it will last a decade so you have to figure 1.2 million every decade or $100,000 a year basically. most schools I know do not put $100,000 grand into their field annually if it is grass. does not cost 1.2 every time, over 400k is for site prep. you would be replacing the turf it self for roughly 1/3rd of the cost of new. This thread is 12 years old. |
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Post by coachd5085 on May 24, 2022 7:24:43 GMT -6
I know a college who is going to field turf and while there is many benefits there is one drawback is the life of turf is typically 10 to 12 years depending on how much you use it. if it is a game field only then you can get 15 yrs out of it. if it is multiuse games only then about 12. if you play games on it and practice on it, it will last a decade so you have to figure 1.2 million every decade or $100,000 a year basically. most schools I know do not put $100,000 grand into their field annually if it is grass. does not cost 1.2 every time, over 400k is for site prep. you would be replacing the turf it self for roughly 1/3rd of the cost of new. Just clarifying the math here. 400k (site prep) is 1/3 of 1.2 million. So would schools be paying 2/3rds for replacement? |
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Post by Defcord on May 24, 2022 8:11:55 GMT -6
Benifits (sic) of Field Turf is if you have community, school board, and/or administration that will pay to install it is you are working in a place that gives a dam about HS football. And - 7525, if you are indeed working on your Masters': Pay more attention to your spelling ("benefits") or learn to use Spell Check feature. Yikes the spelling police! Second only to the grammar police! You need a comma after yikes, sir! |
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