Turf Concerns ...

[CoachCeetar]

So pitching off a perfect and consistent surface has to have a benefit. Fielding on artificial fields is also more consistent. I am starting to like the best artificial fields. Instead of rubber/ petroleum product fillers the modern field are using coconut husk for filler. The natural filler is non toxic and can/should be watered to level the field and lower field temperature. Will the ROI in installing artificial fields ever become the norm?

yeah, that seems like the way to go. I imagine they're a little more work and more expensive which sorta makes it tough when the towns putting these things in are looking for the cheapest/easiest option. It'd be nice to have at least one field you could play on immediately after the rain ends though. Heavy rain friday night has knocked out games for us all weekend sometimes.

They've found a possible link between Phillies players playing on turf at Veterans stadium and early death. The plastic gets into the water supply. It traps heat and is hotter to play in. It just seems all around terrible.

 

[Northball]

Our school sold the public on artificial turf for football as a cost savings from less maintenance. It added the benefits of almost always playable and spring softball/baseball practice area when ballfields are still snowy/muddy.
Is there any risk with the tire crumbs? Maybe? Is there increased risk working in a tire shop where you're always surrounded by a strong smell of new tires? Maybe? Perhaps the crumb risk dissipates over time just like old tires don't smell like new ones.
I wasn't too concerned about plastics, but when I did some plumbing in my house and used that plastic pex tubing, the water that came out of those tubes tasted funny for several months. I started thinking twice about drinking it.

 

[ninthgirl]

yeah, that seems like the way to go. I imagine they're a little more work and more expensive which sorta makes it tough when the towns putting these things in are looking for the cheapest/easiest option. It'd be nice to have at least one field you could play on immediately after the rain ends though. Heavy rain friday night has knocked out games for us all weekend sometimes.

They've found a possible link between Phillies players playing on turf at Veterans stadium and early death. The plastic gets into the water supply. It traps heat and is hotter to play in. It just seems all around terrible.

The bolded is important. Our park authority enjoy speaking out of both sides of it's mouth.

1. There is no equity! Softball only has .5 turfed fields in our area (half time use of one field) compared to baseball's 10! We want to provide equity!
2. We have to charge your rec softball program more for the junky, poorly maintained grass fields we grudgingly allocate you because natural filler on all those baseball and soccer turf fields is so expensive!

The cost to our park authority for my kids to play in mud pits that don't deserve the name fields is going to double partially due to natural fillers which are mostly being used at high school fields. I'm glad they're using the good stuff, but I sure would like it to benefit my family too at some point.

 

[CoachCeetar]

I don't know if this deserves a whole separate "town fields" type threads, but yeah.

Here baseball and softball, roughly, play on the same fields. They're all dirt infields except one.

The school board did try to get a few fields converted to turf a few years ago, but it was large enough that it had to go to resident vote and got voted down. Mainly because "Why don't they maintain the grass/dirt?" yeah, well, they don't. And still don't. The town just agreed to take over two fields, and at least the town does an acceptable job of maintaining them.

We played on one of those fields last year (these are the two usually used for very young baseball) and the first base infield dirt ended at about 55' with a good 6" lip up onto the grass. We all agreed to pay ~53' first base for safety reasons.

The superintendent had the nerve to brag about two other "redone" fields last September. they did do a nice job redoing them..in 2020. 3 years later the pitching rubber block has vanished from one field and you can see visible canyons where water runs when it rains, down a nearby staircase.

Every home game usually at least one coach is spending all warmup/drill time trying to repair the pitcher's mound, RH batters box. Getting lines drawn. etc. Wasted time that would be much better served throwing some BP or something.

As much as turf is toxic, there's talk of fitting one turf field into the budget (so no resident vote) and that seems like a good compromise. I'm excited for the fights over who gets to use that singular field when everything else is drenched.

 

[The Man In Blue]

You’re doing it wrong!

Several years ago my county passed a 1% sales tax to directly benefit schools in the county. Face value = sounds like a good idea!

However, the money can ONLY be used for facilities (not teachers, not curriculum). I voted against it for that reason.

Now … lots of small town schools are getting turf baseball, football, soccer, oh - and a few softball fields. Facilities!

 

[Dabears17]

AD at my DD's school during the year-end sports awards event last spring referred multiple ties to the turf outfield of our softball field as a "practice field". Soccer and flag football use it as a practice field, and baseball uses it in the spring when it rains to avoid ruining their nice minor league stadium-quality grass. Softball is an afterthought.

 

[erniekru]

So pitching off a perfect and consistent surface has to have a benefit. Fielding on artificial fields is also more consistent. I am starting to like the best artificial fields. Instead of rubber/ petroleum product fillers the modern field are using coconut husk for filler. The natural filler is non toxic and can/should be watered to level the field and lower field temperature. Will the ROI in installing artificial fields ever become the norm?

DD's High School Field! Bougie with a capital B.. Modern turf is amazing, instead of crushed tire filler we have crushed olive pits. Drains quick (it rained this day), with the tan olive pits the turf doesn't heat up like the black tire infill does, and no weird smells. Definitely a thumbs up from me.

PS, this is a DFP DD so cal matchup!

 

[ArmWhip]

I was in charge of a small D3 college athletic facility, with a turf baseball infield and a clay softball infield. The common thinking is that turf is basically maintenance free, this is not true. You can neglect maintenance but it greatly shortens the life of the turf. The baselines that were used a lot have to have the infill swept back into place on a regular basis, as well as the batter's box. Second base was major issue, runners sliding in would cause the infill to move out of the base path and it would pile up behind the base. On a softball field I could see where the pitcher's mound would be a problem. Turf fields have warranties, the length depends on the quality of the turf you chose to buy, there are different grades. The turf 'blades' are subject to degradation from sunlight, and it depends on the infill to support it and keep it upright. Without the infill the blades lay over and and get toasted by the sun greatly shortening the field's life span. When a turf company tells you how long the field will last they don't tell you that you have to maintain it or you void the warranty. A field that is not taken care of may only last 10 years depending on how much the location gets.

 

[RADcatcher]

Enjoying reading all the feedback on turf!

From Crushed olive pits to Turf maintenance. Goodreads!

 

[Northball]

Do any of these natural fill materials (coconut, olive, etc.) help reduce the extra bounce I see on rubber crumb turf fields?