August 9, 2009
Ceremony held to mark the completion of Blair's new field
Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown presented a $563,000 grant for Blair's new turf field to county officials at a ceremony held on Thursday at noon. The grant, which signified the completion of the new field, was presented to County Executive Isiah Legget at the function held outside of the main office.
Several county officials attended the ceremony, as well as many Blair cheerleaders and football players. Chris Barclay, Silver Spring representative on the Board of Education (BOE), began the ceremony by describing how important the new turf is to Blair. "Students at Montgomery Blair High School have a wonderful new sports facility, right in their backyard," he said.
Legget mentioned how Blair sports teams will benefit from the turf in many ways. "This synthetic turf field at Blair Stadium will help increase playing time, reduce field maintenance and provide a durable and consistent playing surface for our student athletes," he said.
The county installed the new turf through a statewide program called Open Space, which invests in facilities such as Blair's field. Blair was selected for the program because students as well as the community use the field. "We have a lot of great open space. Dual use maximizes the use of the program," Brown said.
Construction of the new turf took two months to complete. "There was one month where the bulk of the construction took place," said Jay Childs, of the County Department of Parks. The turf is about one acre, and features new fences and field goals. All of the $563,000 presented at the ceremony was for the construction of the turf. The only maintenance the turf requires is grooming, to keep the infield "grass" at a height of 1/4 - 1/2 inch, according to Childs.
The new field can be used in any playable weather condition, meaning anything but lightning, without jeopardizing athletes' safety. This will result in fewer game delays and less rescheduling, promises Mary Bradford, County Department of Parks Director. Another benefit is that the field never needs to "rest," according to Bradford. The field will be able to withstand day after day of use without being damaged. This reliability means that Blazers are not restricted from using the field in any way, for fire drills or sports.
Childs mentioned that students are also free from turf-related injury. Childs said that because of the nature of the turf, athletes can wear cleats or sneakers while playing. Unlike other turf surfaces where students may develop ankle or foot problems if they wear the wrong shoes, Childs assured that the only difference between grass and this turf is the turf "plays a little faster."
Program Open Space began in the late 1960s and has since preserved more than 350,000 acres of parks and recreational land. Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin spoke about the field at the ceremony. "This project exemplifies the significant benefits of Program Open Space from increasing the aesthetics of our schools and communities to providing much needed recreational facilities for our youth," Griffin said.
Griffin also announced that Walter Johnson will be the next high school to receive a turf field, Blair's turf being second in the county to be installed after Richard Montgomery's.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown presented a $563,000 grant for Blair's new turf field to County Executive Isiah Legget, county officials and a member of the school board on Thursday at noon.
Legget mentioned how Blair sports teams will benefit from the turf in many ways. "This synthetic turf field at Blair Stadium will help increase playing time, reduce field maintenance and provide a durable and consistent playing surface for our student athletes," he said.
The county installed the new turf through a statewide program called Open Space, which invests in facilities such as Blair's field. Blair was selected for the program because students as well as the community use the field. "We have a lot of great open space. Dual use maximizes the use of the program," Brown said.
Construction of the new turf took two months to complete. "There was one month where the bulk of the construction took place," said Jay Childs, of the County Department of Parks. The turf is about one acre, and features new fences and field goals. All of the $563,000 presented at the ceremony was for the construction of the turf. The only maintenance the turf requires is grooming, to keep the infield "grass" at a height of 1/4 - 1/2 inch, according to Childs.
The new field can be used in any playable weather condition, meaning anything but lightning, without jeopardizing athletes' safety. This will result in fewer game delays and less rescheduling, promises Mary Bradford, County Department of Parks Director. Another benefit is that the field never needs to "rest," according to Bradford. The field will be able to withstand day after day of use without being damaged. This reliability means that Blazers are not restricted from using the field in any way, for fire drills or sports.
Childs mentioned that students are also free from turf-related injury. Childs said that because of the nature of the turf, athletes can wear cleats or sneakers while playing. Unlike other turf surfaces where students may develop ankle or foot problems if they wear the wrong shoes, Childs assured that the only difference between grass and this turf is the turf "plays a little faster."
Program Open Space began in the late 1960s and has since preserved more than 350,000 acres of parks and recreational land. Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin spoke about the field at the ceremony. "This project exemplifies the significant benefits of Program Open Space from increasing the aesthetics of our schools and communities to providing much needed recreational facilities for our youth," Griffin said.
Griffin also announced that Walter Johnson will be the next high school to receive a turf field, Blair's turf being second in the county to be installed after Richard Montgomery's.
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1) heat: as with any dark plastic or rubber surface, these fields heat up to high temperatures in the sun. While natural grass might need to dry out awhile after a rain for the sake of the grass, overheated plastic fields need to be water cooled or not used for the sake of the athletes. Temperatures in excess of 120 deg. F on the field are considered unsafe for human activity by the CDC.
Temperatures on Monday Aug 10 were as follows:
from Anne Ambler using an infrared heat meter between 2:06 and 2:20 p.m. Measurements at one or two locations. Full sun Meter held four feet off the ground. Air temp 95 deg F.
ON the field: 152 and 159 Deg F
Adjacent concrete: 110
Adjacent bare patch of dirt: 111
Adjacent greenish grass: 96 and 97
Adjacent very green grass: 90 and 92
Note the grass was cooler than air due to its transpiration. while the plastic is 60 to 70 degrees hotter due to its absorption of heat.
2) plastic "turf burns" which are more common on artificial turf and must be carefully cleaned and covered to prevent possible MRSA and other infection.
In addition - unlike grass but just like a nonliving surface like your car- rain alone is not sufficient to clean a plastic/rubber field and blood, bird droppings etc must be cleaned off carefully without contaminating the groundwater.
So enjoy the new field but be aware of its potential problems and real limitations and make sure precautions are taken so everyone can enjoy sports on the field to the fullest.
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2009/06/wj-high-to-get-two-football-fields.html
While your scientific experiments seem to give such OBVIOUS results, your point is made insignificant by the practicality and cost effective installation of turf. First of all, if you had spent any time on the actual field, you would know that it was not filled with rubber pellets, but with sand. I'm sure you had plenty of complaints about the previous field, so just suck it up and deal. You cant single handedly change the world.
Non-playing observers are not the one who have to "suck it up", the student athletes are. I have talked to many now. They appreciate a smooth more playable surface but the heat is alot to take. Football players have told me they "prefer dirt and rocks" to face fulls of hot rubber pellets and plastic turf burns. Soccer players like the surface better because the ball rolls true but complain about the heat - A varsity player told me that standing still on a hot day is not an option, that he needs to basically hop from one foot to the other or the heat burns his feet and then continues up his legs until he can't stand it anymore. Especially bad where the rubber is still at and over the tips of the plastic tufts. They also complain the pulverized tire sand mixture gets into everything - so they take alot of it home.
The field is there yes. And it is better than the terribly installed field that was there before. IF the problems are dealt with and it is well-maintained it should be a fine surface to play on but if adults prefer to even deny the problems and special characteristics of the plastic/rubber field the children will suffer the consequences. It should be cooled down or the kids moved to the practice field when too hot. It should be cleaned and well maintained so unwanted matter doesn't build up and the rubber pellets stay level across the whole field - falling on the gravel under the thin plastic backing would not be fun. Parents and boosters need to work with the Parks dept to make sure the coaches and kids are fully informed of the cooling and washing that needs to be done and work with Parks to ensure this field gets the maintenance it needs for the health and safety of the kids and durability of the field.