Turf in Philly

I think it's Next Turf or something like that. Or is that what is at Nickerson in Boston? Actually I think Nickerson has FieldTurf.

At my alma mater we have some sort of fake stuff that looks like grass and I think it's Field Turf.

My friends went to a Cyberrays match at Villanova a while back and I guess the players were saying that it is hella hot on that field.

 

I though it was Astro-Play, which is marketed as an "affordable" surface, in other words, a cheap imitation of Field Turf, which is what they have in Boston.

The AllStar game will be on Next Turf, which is the expensive stuff made by the same company which makes Astro Play, as well as a zillion other types of turf.

 

While the new turf is better than astroturf it is an almost criminal disservise to force these wonderful ladies to play on it.

Around the WUSA, and the MLS, and most of the other sports, the owners are too cheep or the ground crews are too incopentent to give the players a good surface to play on.

It is just another reason why the rest of the world and a lot of the U.S. cannot take the U.S. soccer program seriously.

U.S. soccer the MLS and the WUSA are run by people that make chimps look VERY smart!

 

Whatever they have in Philly, it's a lower quality product than FieldTurf.

And I bet it HOT!

 

When my friend got to interview B-Chaz..she said that the Villanova turf made their feet burn. Alot of the players immediately took off their boots to let their feet cool off.

 

I noticed Skylar Little pouring water on her feet at one point during the game - I guess that shows how hot the ground is.

 

FIFA has approved FieldTurf but I don't think they've approved the surface they have in Philly. While players seem to like Field Turf OK, they seem less enthusiastic about AstroPlay which, as I said, is an inexpensive (read 'cheap') product.

There are a number of different artificial surfaces and they are not all created equal.

There's an article on the NCAA website about surfaces in D-IA football, and the trend is away from artificial surfaces, as it has been in the NFL and Major League Baseball. Ironically, soccer seems to be going in the opposite direction. In my opinion, artificial surfaces ruined baseball and ruined football. Now FIFA seems intent on seeing if artifical surfaces can ruin soccer.

 

In the pregame bit on TV they siad that the thermometer on the field max'd out at 120 and it read 120 although the air temp was only upper 80's.

Even the FieldTurf used at Nickerson adds 10-15 degrees on a sunny day.

 

I thought Villanova had Safe-Play, which is what the Fire play on in Naperville. Both the Naperville field and Villanova field use black rubber pellets as fill. And boy does that rubber soak up the heat. I've heard of complaints of melted studs from both MLS and WUSA players. Plus the toll that the heat radiating from the field takes on the legs of the players can't be understated. Here's a shot I took at the Carolina/Philly game that clearly shows the rubber pellets imbedded in Prinz's flank after she slid for a ball.

 

There are all kinds of surfaces supposedly designed for soccer. Most use some kind of rubber infill.

The surface at Goodreau Field at Villanova Stadium is AstroPlay. It is not "FIFA recommended" nor, it seems, is the NextTurf field in Portland where the All Star game will be.

According to the FIFA "quality concept" webpage, there are 2 and only 2 FIFA recommended artificial turf installations in CONCACAF: Nickerson Field in Boston and Parc de Kent in Montreal, Canada.

Nickerson is FieldTurf and Parc de Kent is Tarkett Sommer Prestige 60.

 

Naperville is SafePlay. I've played on it (although, obviously, I don't need to do the same things on it that those guys do) and found it to be a fairly decent surface on which to play. We were playing late one night, though, so nothing melted, but I have stood on the field at halftime of an afternoon game, right in the middle of the field, and didn't feel anything through my shoes (admittedly, that's different than running up and down on it and getting your feet hotter). But it doesn't seem to me to be as bad a surface as everyone makes it out to be.

The other thing is, hello, unless you built the place, or you're willing to put up a few million yourself, your opinion about what surface is in a facility doesn't carry a whole lot of weight, you know? That's like being a houseguest and telling your gracious host that you don't like his carpeting.

 

Nextturf is also a joke...this is the turf which a NFL game was cancelled because of buckling of the carpet from the rubber and gaps in the turf.

Both me and adam Z have seen horrible lumps in the astroplay surface in hot weather...it is also too soft at times, causing a major potential for injury.

What makes this more insane is that i know from a FieldTurf distribuiter that villanova was going to install field turf but then backed out for astro play.

the charge should move to grass...but not if it means leaving the philly market area or playing in the cavernous new eagles staidum.

btw this thread probley could be moved to the charge fourm.

 

Grass vs Turf Practicality

As a purist, grass will always be the way to go. BUT, for stadiums like Villanove and Nickerson, artificial turf makes more sense. These schools are strong D-1 schools with great athletic reputations. They also only have one stadium (Villanova might have more, but Goodreau Field is their biggest). With that in mind, these fields see a lot of action. They are used almost year-round by numerous teams. They need to be able to support the schools' athletic teams as well as the professional WUSA teams. Field Turf is obviously higher quality than Astro-play and Villanova shouldn't have opted to "cheap out" on the field, but they had to go with artificial turf.

In Boston there have been other games or camps on the field before Breakers games and when it's time for the Breakers to be on the field, it looks great! This is an important point because it can bring in extra revenue for the schools who don't have to worry about ruining the field and lets the Breakers practice in the winter, even if it's cold out, becuase the field is still usuable. Just things to keep in mind, though as I said, grass is always best.

 

FIFA and turf and more.

An extensive search of FIFA reveals that there are only two FIFA approved fields in all of CONCACAF one is Nickerson in Boston and the other is in Montreal.

However I also found, to my surprise for media reports, that FIFA does NOT ban any form of fake grass fields for anything but FIFA tournaments. In fact a careful reading of all the articles implies that only WC and qualifiers require that the surface be FIFA apporved.

There are lost of sections about markings and advertising and safety but almost nothing that even remotely could be interpreted as a banning of artificial turf of any sort. In fact there was even one comment that actual astroturf did not "have" to be changed for the WC in the United States although it was "encouraged."

There are many statements and articles that say that FIFA is encouraging the use and testing of all forms of artificial turf.

On most artificial turf surfaces the game suffers some differences in play but FIFA does not seem to mind much and is encouraging the further use of fake grass.

[EDIT]
I received a couple of PMs asking for links so I got these from an easy source: A similar thread in the MLS forums. I did NOT want to go through the pain of searching FIFA again. The FIFA site makes the WUSA one look good.
Quality Concept
Carpet becomes more popular
[/EDIT]

Now the safety of the players is paramount and most fake grass does show a statistical increase in some forms of injury most due to the fact that the turf does not give on turns and the increased traction causing more injuries.

The other concern is, on a number of the surfaces, heat. If the surface increases the heat too much that could be a VERY dangerous thing for players. Professionals know how to prepare for this but turf will percolate to kids fields if it becomes the norm in pro and THAT could be a real problem for the kids. Picture kids playing three games in a day on a surface that is over 120 degrees for the whole time. Three games a day is not at all unusual for kids at tournaments.

The pro game leads the way in both equipment and fields and the consideration of what a given move will do if implemented at the youth level needs to always be part of the equation.

Now that I have found that artificial turf of all kinds is allowed(Except for the WC and related games), and even encouraged, by FIFA I am going from adamant opposition to grudging approval. However if safety of the players is compromised by anyone to save money then my opposition will return with vengeance.

BTW: I found that there have been several WC qualifiers world wide over the years played on dirt fields. There are parts of the world where grass just will not grow unless tremendous amounts of money are spent on it and many federations could not aford the price in the past.

 

One aditional link, the Field Turf site itself.

It seems that Field Turf is well liked by both players and staff of many sports.

However the rip offs are almost universally disliked.

 

The turf this year is definetly better than the stuff last year. I heard... but I could be wrong that it cost a million dollars??????? When I went to the practice the day before the Charge vs. Freedom semifinal Mia was complaining a lot about it, especially because it was hot and she was probably nervous about her knee on the field.

 

Nova Turf

As a Villanova alumnus that has played on both the current surface and the one before, this surface is a huge improvement. The turf in place beforehand had a huge crown and burned your skin every time you fell on it. Of course, artificial turf is not ideal at any time, but then again, there is no other suitable soccer venue in the Philadelphia area for the WUSA or MLS.

I will say two things:

1) Villanova Stadium gets used by everyone but the nursing students. Football, field hockey, lacrosse, and track and field, along with numerous other intramural sports, use this field throughout the year. The soccer teams also practice on it during the springtime. Real grass was not an option for the school, and neither was good old AstroTurf.

2) The heat emitted by the turf was not a concern when the school bought the field. All of these sports use the field during cooler months, and although Comcast paid for half of the field, they probably didn't have much of a say about grass because it is ultimately Villanova's facility.