Turf Field

[green-eagle]

I like to ask an question or two:

Is turf the up coming thing? To stay?

Also, is it a disadvantage to teams that play on grass?

[GHS_08]

I'm sure that most schools would like to have turf if they could afford it.

[whippersnapper]

With AR weather its the most convenient

[hogfan10]

With AR weather its the most convenient

Not only is it convenient weather wise, but its convenient for multiple activities (soccer, band, football practices, etc.). It allows for the field be used on many occasions without effecting the condition of the field going forward.
For typical high schools in Arkansas (those without multiple facilities) it's a great choice (if affordable).

[Spotty]

If you can keep your turf over a 15 year period, it's cheaper. Also, it's healthier. Less injuries.

[green-eagle]

With AR weather its the most convenient

Not only is it convenient weather wise, but its convenient for multiple activities (soccer, band, football practices, etc.). It allows for the field be used on many occasions without effecting the condition of the field going forward.
For typical high schools in Arkansas (those without multiple facilities) it's a great choice (if affordable).

So it development was for schools were that school had real estate issue but offer mutiples sports...

But due to its construction materials isnt this field, often hot due summer camps?

[EagleForLife12]

I honestly think turf is the way we should go Green-Eagle, our field is horrible when it rains

[cuckoobird]

If turf is an advantage for the home team, wouldn't they be at a disadvantage on the road. Tit for tat

[WalterWhite]

I'm sure that most schools would like to have turf if they could afford it.

I disagree, I know of several schools that can afford it but have not had it installed. In my opinion turf has almost become a bit cliche. Also nothing like showing up to a school for a game, seeing a beautiful turf feild, and thinking yeah but you still cant win on it any better than you did on grass.

[hogfan10]

With AR weather its the most convenient

Not only is it convenient weather wise, but its convenient for multiple activities (soccer, band, football practices, etc.). It allows for the field be used on many occasions without effecting the condition of the field going forward.
For typical high schools in Arkansas (those without multiple facilities) it's a great choice (if affordable).

So it development was for schools were that school had real estate issue but offer mutiples sports...

But due to its construction materials isnt this field, often hot due summer camps?

In my experience, all fields are hot in August (in Arkansas), regardless of whether it's grass or turf.
My weather comment was obviously referring to rain.

[green-eagle]

Is having a turf field more of a physical advantage or mental advantage?

[cuckoobird]

It's no advantage at all

[Gray lizard]

Anyone see the story on all the female soccer goalies that have come down with cancer.  It is thought the fibers in the turf are the cause.

[SUGARTOWN]

Anyone see the story on all the female soccer goalies that have come down with cancer.  It is thought the fibers in the turf are the cause.

The men goalies are immune?

[Gray lizard]

Anyone see the story on all the female soccer goalies that have come down with cancer.  It is thought the fibers in the turf are the cause.

The men goalies are immune?

Seems like it was breast cancer not for sure though.

[WPWells]

So no one but the goalies?

[Jacketman65]

Not necessarily!

[Jimbo Morphis]

If you can keep your turf over a 15 year period, it's cheaper. Also, it's healthier. Less injuries.

less injuries? did you just make that up?

[mr.b@sc]

Anyone see the story on all the female soccer goalies that have come down with cancer.  It is thought the fibers in the turf are the cause.

Bad things happen to good people everyday and it is human nature to find something to blame it on. The turf probably did not have anything to do with it but who knows...

[Jack1990]

OM...you do know that 74% of the time stats are made up on the spot!

[OLDSCHOOL82]

OM...you do know that 74% of the time stats are made up on the spot!

I thought it was 86% of the time?

[Jack1990]

OM...you do know that 74% of the time stats are made up on the spot!

I thought it was 86% of the time?

Could be...I'm not entirely sure!

[mr.b@sc]

OM...you do know that 74% of the time stats are made up on the spot!

I thought it was 86% of the time?

i thought it was 94 % of the time ?

[Jack1990]

Nah...94% is way too high!

[Jack1990]

A little more research and a few coin flips has determined that the number should be 83%!

[Jimbo Morphis]

OM...you do know that 74% of the time stats are made up on the spot!

i know it's bad luck to be superstitious.

[Gray lizard]

So no one but the goalies?

Said it was due to their constant contact with the ground and breathing in the fibers.  I do not recall the total number but it was around 11 from NCAA female goalies.

[WalterWhite]

Anyone see the story on all the female soccer goalies that have come down with cancer.  It is thought the fibers in the turf are the cause.

Bad things happen to good people everyday and it is human nature to find something to blame it on. The turf probably did not have anything to do with it but who knows...

Maybe they were smoking it.......I can see that being a bad deal.

[OLDSCHOOL82]

Soccer causes cancer!

[WPWells]

Soccer is the debil

[LJ06]

If you can keep your turf over a 15 year period, it's cheaper. Also, it's healthier. Less injuries.

Pretty sure there are more on turf

[WalterWhite]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

[Jacketman65]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

Maybe that is why it possibly causes cancer!  If this is true.

[Gray lizard]

SEATTLE -- A local soccer coach is raising serious questions about the material used to make artificial athletic fields

Crumb rubber is made from shredded tires and is used in soccer fields all over the country. The turf is especially popular in Seattle because the tires get recycled and the reliable surface can stand up to soggy weather.

But one local coach sees a troubling connection between the turf and cancer among soccer players.

Soccer runs in the blood of University of Washington assistant coach Amy Griffin. She started playing goalie as a child, and now helps UW goalies stay fit and improve their skills.

Griffin's always searching for new talent and keeps a list of top players. But one list of names isn't about recruiting. On it are 13 players from Washington who have all been diagnosed with rare types of cancer.

Of those 13, 11 come from an even smaller pool of players: Goal keepers.

"Everyone says it's just a coincidence and kind of walks away, but the ratio of goal keepers to field players is 15 to 1, 16 to 2, and I know plenty of goal keepers that have cancers and I don't know many field players," Griffin said.

Griffin said she can't walk away from what she's discovered, and she's not alone. Former professional goalie and reality TV star Ethan Zohn, who has twice beaten non-Hodgkins lymphoma, had been keeping his own list, which he has now handed over to Griffin.

Combined, the lists name 27 players with cancer, and 22 of them are goal keepers.

Griffin can't say why goalies are getting cancer, but she wonders if it's the field turf and the crumb rubber used to make it. She said goalies spend a lot of time on the ground diving for balls, blocking shots and sometimes ingesting the small rubber pellets.

"I lived in the stuff," former UW goal keeper Jorden Alerding said of the turf. "Four to five times a week I was on it for hours -- bleeding sweating, everything. Looking back now I wonder could that have been the cause."

Griffin's first brush with the unproven connection between cancer and the pellets came when she visited Alerding, who was being treated for cancer.

"She said, 'I just think it's something with the field turf. I don't know what it is, but I think there's something in those black dots,'" Griffin said.

The former Husky was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma during her freshman year of college when doctors discovered a large, deadly tumor.

"It was about the size, a little bigger than a softball, right in the center of my chest," Alerding said.

Alerding is now cancer free, but she still questions the health effects of crumb rubber and the lack of further research.

"If this can be prevented, I don't know why there isn't more effort being made to do the research and find out," she said.

The pain is still fresh for June Leahy. Her daughter, Austen Everett, a star goalie for Seattle's Blanchet High School and later the University of Miami, died a year and a half ago.

By the time Everett lost her second battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Leahy was raising questions about the use of crumb rubber on soccer fields.

"I feel like there is a strong correlation with the turf," she said.

This isn't the first time people have raised concerns about the turf, either. In 2008, a goal keeper at Tacoma's Stadium High School battled Hodgkins lymphoma. Back then, Luke Beardemphl and his family wondered if crumb rubber had played a part in his cancer.

"I'll catch it. It'll stop the ball but not the pellets. They'll go into my face, go into my eyes, my mouth," Beardemphl said in 2008.

Earlier that year, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission tested some blades of grass used in synthetic turf for lead. The commission found they did not contain enough of it to put children at risk.

The agency later stated that its "exposure assessment did not include chemical or other toxic metals, beyond lead."

Tires do contain metals and chemicals that have been ruled too toxic to burn in Washington state. The average athletic field uses 27,000 of them.

So, can prolonged exposure to the fields make people sick? The Synthetic Turf Council says no.

The president of the trade organization was unavailable to talk about this story, but the group directed us to a statement on its website.

"For 40 years, under EPA oversight and OSHA- regulated manufacturing, not one person has ever reported ill effects related to any materials associated with synthetic turf," the statement reads.

Those statements and tests cannot shake loose the feeling Griffin gets every time she learns the name of another goal keeper with cancer.

She also knows that feelings and suspicion do not equal evidence.

The team's head physician, Dr. John O'Kane, says the concern is valid and has talked with Griffin about the need for scientific and medical research on the effects of crumb rubber.

He said Griffin's list is only a starting point.

"The question you would need to ask is over that same time period, how many goalies are there that haven't gotten cancer?" O'Kane said. "And until you understand that number, you really can't interpret that there's anything particularly dangerous about being a goalie when it comes to cancer."

O'Kane said that kind of research could take years. Griffin hopes someone is willing to take on the work to provide her with an answer. She said any answer will do.

"I would love for it to be disproven or for someone to grab me by the throat and say,'These are the facts. This is why it could never be this. This is just happenstance.' That would be great," she said.

One one former Husky -- Alerding -- is on Griffin's list.

[Gray lizard]

I am no expert but this is just some of the information out there to think about.

[OB11]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

I think the recommended replacement time is 8 years or so.  Not sure how expensive it is to replace/recondition turf.  But it can't be cheap.

[hogfan10]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

I think the recommended replacement time is 8 years or so.  Not sure how expensive it is to replace/recondition turf.  But it can't be cheap.

Arkadelphia's is 12 years (I think), with an expected life of 15 or so (per manufacturer, based on past installed surfaces).

[phdefense]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

I think the recommended replacement time is 8 years or so.  Not sure how expensive it is to replace/recondition turf.  But it can't be cheap.

Ask Heber they went through that this year.

[polksalet]

I'm sure it'd last longer at Stuttgart. Less wear and tear mean....

[Earnest T Bass Sr.]

Let's not be so hard on soccer it has two real useful purposes.  To give a reason to turf the game field and scout for a kicker.   

[cuckoobird]

I bet they find those goalies developed cancer from repeated blows to the chest area and turf is not the real culprit.

[Blazer51]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

[hogfan10]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

I'm curious what years did you play?

[green-eagle]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

I spoke with several high school seniors FB players and the pefer grass especially after a few summer camps on turf..,

[WalterWhite]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

I spoke with several high school seniors FB players and the pefer grass especially after a few summer camps on turf..,

I was in highschool in the 70's I pefered grass even back then.......I never got on any turf,  when we went to summer camps we just stayed on the grass. I used to goto a summer camp in mena, at the time they had some of the best grass around......now all the kids up there are on turf. It may just be a generational thing. You know whats in today is out tomorrow. Everybodys on grass next week everybodys on turf......sooner or later somebodys gonna mess around and mix their grass with their turf and in fact I think that might be what happened up in boise state.

[Blazer51]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

I'm curious what years did you play?

2009-2011

[hogfan10]

Having played on turf and grass. I can not in any way what so ever stand turf! Yes it might be more convenient but playing at Paragould, my arms and legs were COVERD in turf burn for weeks. It was miserable. It also ruins your socks, and the extra heat from the turf sucks, which I'm sure plays a role in the wearing out of cleats. In the end all I have to say is go grass and boo turf! Lol

I'm curious what years did you play?

2009-2011

Ok just wondering if it was the new stuff or the old stuff. I played on the old stuff in the late 80's. It was pretty much indoor/outdoor carpet rolled over asphalt. Not fun.

[LakeRat]

What is the lifespan of a turf field?  I would think at 15yrs it would be dry rotted and worn out.

I think the recommended replacement time is 8 years or so.  Not sure how expensive it is to replace/recondition turf.  But it can't be cheap.

Ask Heber they went through that this year.

Heber's turf was replaced under warranty... it was 7 years old under an 8 year warranty. There were manufacturer defects in the type Heber had installed where the seams were breaking down prematurely.

They were able to work out an upgrade deal to a higher quality turf with soccer markings in the Heber deal.

Depending on the quality purchased the typical turf life is 10-15 years. They're generally warrantied 7-8 years depending on who it's purchased from and the grade used. Average life obviously is dependent on local weather conditions, drainage and site preparation plus how well or poorly it's maintained.

As far as the soccer goalie and cancer connection...  I'm not a fan of soccer... If I wanted to sit around watching someone trying to score and failing for 90 minutes I'd rather go to a singles bar with my buddies...

[Jimbo Morphis]

I bet they find those goalies developed cancer from repeated blows to the chest area and turf is not the real culprit.

thank you dr. cuckoo. your overall knowledge of everything once again blows me away.

[cuckoobird]

Youre welcome professor