15 minute read
Playing on Home Turf
On September 8, 2023, high school senior Gavin Anderson’s dream came true. He ran out onto the football field as the starting linebacker for the Willow Canyon High School Wildcats. “It was amazing,” he said. “I suited up before, but I never really played. Just hearing the fans cheer for you. It’s your year, it’s your team.”
While it was a special night for Gavin, it was made more memorable because of the playing surface he was running out onto. Willow Canyon High School was debuting a new synthetic turf field at their first home football game. Dysart Unified School District leadership, Governing Board members, community members, and the Mayor of Surprise, Skip Hall, all stood at the center of the field and cut a ribbon on a year-long project that brought new, state of the art playing surfaces to two of Dysart’s high schools, Willow Canyon and Dysart High School.
“With athletics as one of Dysart’s three primary focus areas, along with academics and arts, we are dedicated to improving our facilities and opportunities for student athletes and the community we serve,” said Dysart Superintendent, Dr. John Croteau. “We are proud to bring turf fields to our campuses, which will allow more school and community usage of the fields, with the bonus of added efficiencies. We took special care in evaluating and selecting the materials that could provide the best balance among safety, durability, and cooling ability.”
Synthetic turf fields aren’t new in Arizona. In fact, they’ve been around for more than 30 years. But they are new to Dysart schools, and have been slowly growing in popularity over the past few years in districts across the valley. While the benefits are substantial, there is still a stigma around the fields and their inherent safety for the athletes. “It’s kind of like the automobile,” said Jeff Raiger, Regional Manager for Astroturf. “There were unsafe cars made over the years. That doesn’t mean that all cars are bad, and we shouldn’t have cars.” Mr. Raiger’s point conveys what many are coming to find out; turf fields have come a long way. Technology has improved and what you know of turf fields, even from the last 10 years, has changed dramatically.
“It’s not your father’s Astroturf anymore,” said Mike Wickham, Account Executive for General Acrylics, Inc., the company who installed the fields for the Dysart District. “I’m an ex-football player that’s played high school and college football. Back in the 1980s when I played a lot on synthetic turf, it did create a lot of lower extremity injuries, and it left a lot of rug burn. This technology [in Dysart’s fields] is modern and replicates natural grass more so than ever.”
Safety is the first thing that comes to mind when people think of turf fields lately, and rightly so. It’s been a media topic for a few years now as players of all levels debate whether turf or natural grass is a better surface. “That was one of our big concerns as athletes,” said Anderson, who’s never played on a turf field before this year. “A lot of people get injured on turf.”
To understand safety, it’s best to start with the construction of the fields in the Dysart District compared to existing turf fields in Arizona and throughout the country. The fields at Willow Canyon and Dysart High School were built using modern technology, some of which has been around for only three years, and represents a shift in the industry toward a safer environment for athletes.
In the beginning, the artificial turf industry laid a plastic carpet directly over rock. Old tires that were ground up were used as the infill. The downside of that was hot fields and a higher rate of injuries than on natural grass. It’s evolved since then, but the past 10 years have been substantial with regards to technology, materials, and knowledge.
Dysart District’s synthetic turf fields are constructed with three main parts. There is the shock pad, the infill, and the turf itself. It’s important to note that many older fields, including those at the professional level, do not have a shock pad. Both the shock pad and the infill for Dysart’s fields are made by a company called Brock USA, which is the leading supplier of shock pads in North America. They’ve been around since 1998, and have made their pads a leader in player safety.
Brock’s shock pads are engineered specifically for artificial turf and the impact during play. A material using polypropylene with a micro coating binder produces a pad with an open pore structure for fast drainage and a unique impact profile ideal for artificial turf. The BrockPad is one of the key components in reducing concussions. Studies show one in five concussions occur from head to surface impact. Only infilled turf over a quality shock pad has demonstrated it can reach player safety ranges found in natural grass.
There are a series of tests conducted to ensure the playing surface and the shock pad meets the standards. This gives a more comprehensive picture of how the field is performing from an impact safety standpoint. One of those tests done to ensure safety in comparison to natural grass is the G-Max test. This measures impact attenuation, or the ability of the playing surface to absorb the shock or kinetic energy from a collision, such as a player hitting the surface of the field.
“G-Max scores are kind of like your golf game, the lower the scores the better,” said Wickham. “And when you start seeing scores creep up toward 200, you can see student athletes get not only concussions but more serious injuries. So we always try to find that sweet spot around 100 when we finish a field.”
“Our G-Max guarantee says that the turf won’t go over 120 for the life of the turf,” said Julie Trull, Rocky Mountain Region Vice President for Brock USA. “A pristine natural grass field is usually between 70-100G’s.”
With an artificial turf there is also more consistency in the G-Max score. On a natural grass field you may go around and test and see numbers vary from one section to another. “The beauty of this system with the heavy face weight, the designed infill ratios, and the BrockPad underneath it, is that it is going to be consistent from location to location when athletes are falling,” said Wickham.
The infill is the second component of the Brock materials. Infill is a granular material that goes on top of artificial turf and seeps between the fibers. Infill serves three purposes. It provides resiliency by holding up the taller fibers. It also provides shock attenuation to absorb the impact of falls, and it is used to weigh down the turf and prevent movement and wrinkling.
Most older fields use a crumb rubber infill. In combination with the BrockPad, Dysart uses BrockFILL, which is an engineered wood particle infill specifically designed for artificial turf. It’s made here in the United States from a species of southern pine that is grown, harvested, and replanted in continuous cycles, making it ideal for a sustainable, renewable organic infill product.
The wood particle provides key differences over the crumb rubber found in older turf fields. People are used to running on natural surfaces, not a rubberized bouncy turf that changes consistency across the field. BrockFILL feels like natural turf underfoot. Keeping infill in the turf is also key, so the lower the splash the better. BrockFILL achieves the lowest splash when dry compared to other infills and is even better when damp.
“It feels lighter running on it,” said Anderson. “It kind of feels like running without shoes on. The traction and when you are trying to stop and change directions feels a lot better. It took a little bit to get used to, because with grass you have to dig deep into it. I’m not the fastest guy here, but I do feel faster on it.”
But perhaps the most beneficial part of the BrockFILL are the cooling benefits. BrockFILL is a significantly cooler infill than crumb rubber and does not require watering. Each BrockFILL particle is naturally hydrophilic, so they absorb natural rainwater and condensation into their core, not just on the surface. Moisture is then released slowly for extended cooling. Plus BrockFILL gains weight when wet, so it doesn’t float or migrate as much.
“BrockFILL is made from an organic material that provides superior traction and helps reduce field temperatures,” said Trull. “When BrockFILL is dry it can be up to 30 degrees cooler than rubber. When wet it can be up to 50 plus degrees cooler.”
“This product does offer heat reduction benefits without the need for water,” said Wickham. “But it is substantially beneficial to put water on it, even if it is just spritzed on it a few times a week. It takes less than an hour to water a field, and we usually tell the schools to do it every other day [during the hotter months]. It’s very minimal the amount of water output that they need to put on the fields. To run the water wheels for 45-60 minutes is minimal compared to what they were using water consumption wise for natural grass.”
Some school districts in the valley use a combination of crumb rubber and a natural zeolite material for their infill. While that combination does provide the same level of traction, it does require water to get the cooling benefits. BrockFill is naturally 20-30 degrees cooler than those infill products.
The final component of the field is the actual artificial turf itself. The NFL Charities Foundation had previously funded a year-long study at Michigan State University, where they evaluated the potential impact of football playing surfaces on lower extremity injuries caused by excessive torque, or the rotational friction produced when cleated shoes dig into the field.
According to the results of that study, AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D most closely replicated natural grass in a comparison of 16 types of synthetic and natural sports turf, based on the torque, force, and friction generated by cleated athletic shoes.
In the study, the AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D system had the lowest average torque of all synthetic turf systems tested, second only to natural grass. Researchers credited the fiber structure of the AstroTurf system, the only fiber structure containing a RootZone, a simulated thatch layer at the base of the system, with the low level of frictional resistance. Researchers also noted that the RootZone reduces the amount of infill required for a stable system and may reduce compaction of the infill layer.
“With the RootZone in the turf, it keeps the infill in place, so it doesn’t migrate as much and you don’t have all the flyout,” said Jonnie Deremo, President, General Acrylics, Inc. “And then along with that you get less cleat lock with that system because your cleats aren’t going all the way to the bottom of the carpet or the turf itself. They’re staying up on top, so it’s more like playing on real grass.”
Based on those findings and other research, Dysart selected AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D to accompany the BrockPad and BrockFill. In selecting the turf, the district also opted for a higher face weight. At 60 ounces, it is higher than most neighboring and professional facilities.
“Face weight is measured per square yard,” said Wickham. “You take a square yard of carpet or turf, and then weigh it, and the higher the number means you are getting a lot more fiber.”
“In other competitive turfs, the face weight is anywhere between 33 and 42 ounces,” said Raiger. “So it’s very sparse. And it’s filled with eight or nine pounds of infill. In that scenario you really aren’t playing on the grass, you’re playing on the infill. When a student athlete goes to plant, their cleats can penetrate all the way through down into the backing and get stuck there. The product Dysart is using with the RootZone, there is enough density that the cleat can’t get through the grass.”
The simplest way to explain it is that it is better to replicate natural grass, and when you are playing on a high quality natural grass surface, you are playing on the grass, not the dirt. When you have more fiber, or face weight, and less infill, you are replicating that experience.
Safety and ensuring the field meets necessary standards is paramount, but the turf field also has other ancillary benefits. The first thing one might think of is water use. While it’s hard to track exact water savings from turf fields because of the complexity of the water system tied to other parts of the school, one local Arizona school district saw an estimated cost savings of nearly $100,000 a year per turf field installed.
Maintenance is another cost-saving measure, as staff don’t have to spend as much time with the upkeep of the field. Turf fields only require a bi-weekly maintenance piece and a once of year cleaning to keep them pristine, lasting 10-12 years on only minimal effort.
“Turf fields allow schools to reallocate the grounds facilities team to accomplish other tasks and duties, where they don’t have to be tied up with mowing the lawn, painting the lawn, aerating it, overseeding it, the normal day to day and year round operations required to maintain a sod field,” said Wickham. “They are able to utilize those resources elsewhere now, not only financially but personnel wise as well.”
Playability is the other key attribute of a turf field, and the reason so many school districts are installing them. With grass fields, there was always a concern of tearing up the field in practice or during daily use. Coaches and athletes want the field in the best possible conditions for games, so the fields were used only for those purposes. However, with Dysart’s turf field technology, it’s meant to be used, and used often.
“A lot of our competitors have a usage log where they restrict the amount of hours,” said Wickham. “We don’t do that. We feel this is a big investment for the district. We want you guys to utilize it as much as possible and enjoy it. You don’t have to worry about pulling your team off of it and practicing on the practice field because you are afraid of wearing the field out prematurely.”
“The field condition throughout the year is much more stable and consistent,” said Deremo. “Typically after football season is over and soccer starts, those grass fields are worn down to nothing. So when soccer comes along they are basically playing on dead grass and dirt. It’s a hard, hard surface and unsafe. The playability isn’t very consistent. By having these synthetic turf fields you have a consistent surface all year long and you can use them much more, and not have to worry about wearing out the grass or the sod.”
Weather also plays a huge role. While rain is infrequent here in Arizona, it does occur and would often shut the field down for days at a time, especially during Monsoon season. “We removed about seven inches of base off of those fields, dirt and grass off of there, and built a whole drainage profile below the field so that when it rains there isn’t standing water in the synthetic turf,” said Deremo.
“This field allows student athletes in any type of weather to still utilize the field,” said Wickham. “There is no downtime waiting for the field to get striped, waiting for it to dry out, so this is something student athletes can enjoy 365 [days a year].”
While Dysart schools were the first in Arizona to utilize these new Brock technologies in their fields, an additional seven fields will be installed in the state by the end of the year. “We currently have over 177 million square feet across the country and have over 500 BrockFILL fields since it launched in 2019,” said Trull. Additionally, Dysart’s other two high schools, Valley Vista and Shadow Ridge, will receive turf installations to be ready for the 2024-2025 school year. “The Dysart District was very responsible in their approach, in the research they did, in the due diligence they performed,” said Raiger. “They were very careful and analyzed safety, durability, ease of maintenance, and heat reduction. All of those things were important to them, and I applaud their leadership for the approach they took.”
Despite all the outlined benefits as far as safety, savings, and playability, maybe the most important aspect is the feeling these fields give to their students, staff, and community.
“We’ve seen after these fields get put in, the school gets more kids involved in sports,” said Deremo. “It brings more camaraderie between the kids and everyone at the school. They get excited about having these fields.”
“I think our turf field is one of the best,” said Anderson. “It looks nice and it’s so beautiful. It brings pride to our program and makes you want to work harder.”
