| New Surface for Liberty High School |
| 3/7/2007 |
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The first few steps Myles Reid took on the bright green carpet that lay at his feet came cautiously. Tiny rubber particles and millions of synthetic threads replaced the natural grass football field at Liberty High School this summer, and the Eagles' senior running back had never quite set foot on such a field. It didn't take long for Reid to become a big fan of the new surface. "You feel faster on it, you really do," Reid said. "I did feel faster the first time I ran on it. You can't really compare it to grass. It's way better." That's what Liberty officials aimed for when they spurred a move to artificial turf a year ago, fed up with heavy maintenance, dying grass and limited practice time on the school's heavily used field. Kip Hull, a 1997 graduate of the school, stepped in to finance the turf, and the former Liberty linebacker picked up the entire $950,000 bill for the field that now bears his name. The field is also used by Liberty's field hockey, soccer and lacrosse teams. "What high school athlete wouldn't want to play on the field," Hull, 27, said. "It's beautiful. It's immaculate." It's also part of a growing trend. As technology catches up to nature, teams across the nation are increasingly turning to synthetic fields in larger numbers. On Liberty's field, a 2-inch thick mat woven with polyethelene fibers sits on top of a drainage mat and advanced drainage system installed by Pennsylvania-based Forever Green Athletic Fields. Granulated rubber is added between the fibers to absorb impact and give the field a bounce that sets it apart from early Astroturf, which absorbed hits like asphalt and claimed its share of athletes unfortunate enough to twist a knee on the surface. "You get a spring to your step," Liberty senior defensive end Devaughn Parson said. "It feels like I'm in college. Who knows? This field might be better than some of the college ones out there." In Virginia, Liberty is the third public school to install an artificial turf field. Fairfax High School and Amherst High School near Lynchburg also play on similar surfaces. John Gillis, the assistant director for the National Federation of State High School Associations, said a 2005 survey of athletic directors indicated that 33 percent would consider going to artificial turf fields. That number has risen in the last 10 years, Gillis said. Approximately 800 high schools across the nation have artificial turf fields, according to Forever Green president Keith Day. Many are in the south and west, where water shortages and severe weather make it tougher to grow grass. Before Hull stepped in to finance the field, Liberty athletic director Jerry Carter envisioned being able to recoup the cost of the field through lower maintenance costs and additional revenue that could come from renting the field out. Liberty's field is expected to last between 10 and 15 years, Carter said. "I definitely see it as a trend nationwide," Gillis said. "Athletics is a business and it could make a lot of business sense for schools to look into this." At Liberty, Carter and football coach Tommy Buzzo had kicked the idea of an artificial turf field around for years. With the football, field hockey, soccer and lacrosse teams vying for time on Liberty's stadium field, trying to keep grass growing was a losing battle, Carter said. By the first or second game of the fall season, Liberty's blue grass field invariably had bare spots. The same thing happened every spring no matter how well the field was maintained. "We just felt like we wanted our kids on a better surface," Carter said. "No matter what we did, it was getting all tore up." So Carter and Buzzo set out to research fields more than a year ago. They visited Fairfax's field, and took a trip to New York, examining artificial fields there. Buzzo consulted with his colleagues at an American Football Coaches Association convention, and Liberty finally settled on Forever Green Athletic Fields. Construction began during the summer. "It's supposed to mimic the play of real grass with the exception of it has a more absorbent factor," Buzzo said. "It plays consistently across the field. When you play on a grass field the footing is different in the middle than it is on the edge. This is consistent all the way across." Liberty officials also expect the turf to be safer. Carter said he expects fewer knee and ankle injuries on the new field because the artificial turf is designed to allow players to pivot and cut as if they're on a real grass field. The field also comes close to the shock-absorbing qualities of real grass. "We think it's a softer field," Carter said. "It's much lower than a blue grass field so we think we are providing our kids not only with a good playing field but a safer one and you can't put a price on that." The result has been exactly what they wanted, and the field got an early test. In the days before the Eagles' first game against Fauquier, the field was pounded by heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The opener was postponed, but a day later Liberty beat Fauquier, 22-6. There was no mud or slippery slop. Just a green field, and Reid ran for 106 yards in the win. "It was in good shape when we played on it," Reid said. "Not too many people were slipping around and it wasn't that wet."
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