Field Turf Becoming More Common
July 12, 2017 at 2:10 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
Football people loved it, those who deal directly with the corporation’s finances saw the benefit of it, and people who like to complain about stuff … well … they complained about it.
Warsaw’s announcement was then echoed by Goshen, and the RedHawks played on a synthetic surface of their own last season.
Now look at what’s happening.
Crews are working on putting in field turf at both Wawasee and Plymouth. I know some of you are reading this and spiking your newspaper or throwing your computer’s mouse in disgust, but think about it. People in those communities saw the value of what Warsaw did with the new turf and how they used it in practical application, and it’s a no-brainer.
Of course it’s expensive. Not a lot of schools have $750,000 burning a hole in their corporation’s pockets for this kind of project. And if you look at field turf as just a luxurious item for the football team, then you will see it as wasteful spending.
But if you are willing to look at the turf as an investment in your corporation, then it makes total sense. The proof is tangible:
How many manpower hours have been spent mowing the football field since June of 2016? Zero.
How many manpower hours have been spent painting lines on the football field each week? Zero.
How much fuel was put into lawn mowers to prep the football field? Zero.
How many cans of paint were purchased to line the football field? Zero.
How many bags of grass seed were purchased for repairing the field after the season ended? Zero.
How much money was spent watering the football field? Not a dime.
How many P.E. classes had to stay inside because the ground was wet even when it stopped raining hours before? Zero.
How many kids spent time on the field turf at some point during the school year? Most of them.
The financial savings and the usage benefits gained from putting field turf into Fisher Field is so obvious that schools who didn’t have a major financial backer to pay for the initial installation like Warsaw did are signing contracts to do it, knowing that their investment will pay off in a very short time anyway.
Now, there is the old-school point of view that sports should be played on grass and all of that. I generally fall into that category of people. We tend to be grumpy and defensive of the way things were better than the way things are now.
But I also understand that many of things that have changed over the years have gotten better with those changes. Heck, if you want to dig your heels in and be like that, then we should go back to having helmets made of leather and no face masks and waiting for kickers to tie blocks onto their shoes for extra points. No one wants those things anymore.
As it turns out, Warsaw will now play six of their nine regular season football games on artificial turf in the upcoming season. Only Elkhart Memorial (whose stadium is going to become the best junior high football stadium in the state in a few years), Northridge (who balked at building a new gym when they built their new multi-million dollar school building to the dismay of all), and Concord (who needs it and has the best financial base to draw from) will host the Tigers on natural grass. Although, honestly, by the time Week 9 comes along most of Jake Field at Concord is just a place where grass used to be.
So now more and more schools are doing it. They are taking out the grass and installing field turf. My mom used to tell me “Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it right.”
Except in this case, it does.
Football people loved it, those who deal directly with the corporation’s finances saw the benefit of it, and people who like to complain about stuff … well … they complained about it.
Warsaw’s announcement was then echoed by Goshen, and the RedHawks played on a synthetic surface of their own last season.
Now look at what’s happening.
Crews are working on putting in field turf at both Wawasee and Plymouth. I know some of you are reading this and spiking your newspaper or throwing your computer’s mouse in disgust, but think about it. People in those communities saw the value of what Warsaw did with the new turf and how they used it in practical application, and it’s a no-brainer.
Of course it’s expensive. Not a lot of schools have $750,000 burning a hole in their corporation’s pockets for this kind of project. And if you look at field turf as just a luxurious item for the football team, then you will see it as wasteful spending.
But if you are willing to look at the turf as an investment in your corporation, then it makes total sense. The proof is tangible:
How many manpower hours have been spent mowing the football field since June of 2016? Zero.
How many manpower hours have been spent painting lines on the football field each week? Zero.
How much fuel was put into lawn mowers to prep the football field? Zero.
How many cans of paint were purchased to line the football field? Zero.
How many bags of grass seed were purchased for repairing the field after the season ended? Zero.
How much money was spent watering the football field? Not a dime.
How many P.E. classes had to stay inside because the ground was wet even when it stopped raining hours before? Zero.
How many kids spent time on the field turf at some point during the school year? Most of them.
The financial savings and the usage benefits gained from putting field turf into Fisher Field is so obvious that schools who didn’t have a major financial backer to pay for the initial installation like Warsaw did are signing contracts to do it, knowing that their investment will pay off in a very short time anyway.
Now, there is the old-school point of view that sports should be played on grass and all of that. I generally fall into that category of people. We tend to be grumpy and defensive of the way things were better than the way things are now.
But I also understand that many of things that have changed over the years have gotten better with those changes. Heck, if you want to dig your heels in and be like that, then we should go back to having helmets made of leather and no face masks and waiting for kickers to tie blocks onto their shoes for extra points. No one wants those things anymore.
As it turns out, Warsaw will now play six of their nine regular season football games on artificial turf in the upcoming season. Only Elkhart Memorial (whose stadium is going to become the best junior high football stadium in the state in a few years), Northridge (who balked at building a new gym when they built their new multi-million dollar school building to the dismay of all), and Concord (who needs it and has the best financial base to draw from) will host the Tigers on natural grass. Although, honestly, by the time Week 9 comes along most of Jake Field at Concord is just a place where grass used to be.
So now more and more schools are doing it. They are taking out the grass and installing field turf. My mom used to tell me “Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it right.”
Except in this case, it does.
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