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Should Synthetic Turf Be Used For Town Athletic Fields

I believe that in no way should a town use synthetic turf. I realize that in northern towns, the cold weather and snow kills the natural turf. Even down South, fields occasionally have to be resodded. This is very expensive and very labor intensive. However, when you consider the benefits of natural turf, the cost and labor are worth it.

I have coached high school football and baseball for many years. One of the big rewards in Georgia is to make the state semifinals in football. The semifinal games for all classes are held at the Georgia Dome, which has an artificial surface. The cost to each school to participate is increased, as shoes with special cleats have to be bought in order to play on turf. To anyone that has not been on artificial turf, if you walk on it, you get a spongy feeling. That fools you. People don't realize that beneath the turf and the layers of padding, there is a layer that is as hard as concrete, and in some cases actually is concrete.

The ground is not exactly soft, but it is definitely not as hard as concrete.

The spongy surface lends itself to catching cleats, more likely to lead to knee and ankle injuries. Some promising high school careers have been ended by these injuries, especially to the knee. While it is true that many professional teams play on this surface, their players face the same risks. However, these are grown men, who are paid handsome sums of money to play on these fields. For them, the risk may be great, but so is the reward.

Another type of injury, although not as serious, is carpet burns. These are very painful, but are also very common.

As for playing baseball on artificial turf, you have the same problems with injuries that you do with football. How many times have you seen teams rest an aging or injury plagued player when their teams are playing on a "carpet"? One might remember the story about Lou Brock, then centerfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, who actually had the soles of his shoes melt off while playing in 100 degree heat, which on the artificial turf at Busch Stadium was more like 130 degrees. Many players have had countless blisters burned onto their feet by similar temperatures on similar playing surfaces (as a side note, Busch Stadium went back to natural turf). Of course, the turf continued to look great, and didn't have to be watered, but there was a human, physical cost.

Considering the physical dangers of installing synthetic turf versus the reduced monetary cost of the artificial turf, my question to any town considering it would be "How much does the health and well being of your citizens mean to you?".

Learn more about this author, Rodney Crutchfield.
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