Student-Athlete Pleas Power Field Repairs

I strongly urge Mr. Zinn & others to resist urges to install artificial turf. The number of injuries, including concussions, is increased on synthetic turf fields.

Not for nothing almost every complex is turf and has been for many years. I played on turf in WH from 93/94 to 96/97 and it has not played with any health concerns I have. I understand people are worried about the wildlife but right now geese go to the bathroom all over the field and it would take one cut on a student athletes leg to get a staph infection. Let’s do what is right and channel any bit of run off towards the stands and not towards the river/lake. Give the kids what they want and more students will play. This will keep kids engaged and for most part out of trouble.

NHPS Teacher, If you are comparing a pro or college level natural grass field to turf, then I might agree with you. However, it's nearly impossible (or very expensive) to keep a public school field in such perfect condition due to the amount of use it will get. It would require a sprinkler system, use of field would need to be restricted (no public use or youth leagues) to allow grass to recover, and of course a massive amount of reseeding and fertilizing.
As stated by the student athletes, a bumpy field leads to more ankle and knee injuries. An overly dry field (if no sprinklers and during times of low precipitation) can be much harder than the latest turf fields. (turf fields made 15+ years ago were much harder). In soccer and field hockey a bumpy field leads to sloppier and rougher play (whereas turf fields make it easier to control the ball). Slide tackling in soccer is common on grass but almost never occurs on turf.

RedAlert, I once tried heroin and did not get addicted, it's a safe drug. Or we can both look at research from medical practitioners - turf and heroin are not safe.

Your concern for staph infection from Canada goose dung is outlandish compared to the increased risk of bodily injury, or even chronic injury like turf toe.

Why do all NFL players prefer grass?

This is another fine, multi-million dollar example of New Haven refusing to maintain its expensive facilities until the state and feds give them other people's money to pay for their own neglect. Does this beggar city ever feel any shame for this panhandling? It doesn't appear so.

When Rice field was regraded maybe 20-25 years ago I remember multiple dump trucks of top soil being trucked off site. After grading none of it was brought back and the sub soil only was seeded.
It was stolen and my complaints to the city were ignored.

OnceCityDump, most of the surrounding suburban high schools have turf now. Many of them had crappy grass fields prior to getting turf (which I suppose you could say they "refused to maintain" since they didn't keep them in great condition).

Each of these suburban towns weighed the same pros and cons that New Haven is discussing, and almost all of them chose to invest in the turf. Why would you villainize Cross for doing same?

Did any of these other towns receive money from the state for their turf? I don't know.. but does it really matter? New Haven school districts are much poorer than their suburban counterparts.

Why do you feel a need to insult ("does this beggar city ever feel any shame for this panhandling?"), when all they are asking for are sports facilities that are comparable to every other high school in the region?

I wrote this previously but it did not post.
Maybe 20+ years ago when Rice field was regraded multiple dump trucks of top soil were removed from the site to allow regrading. None of it was brought back, the sub soil alone being seeded. The top soil was stolen and my complaints to the City were ignored.

The dangers of synthetic turf are well documented for burns from excessive heat because turf can get extremely hot, allergies, staphylococcus infections, injuries, and toxic chemicals, and more.
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/synthetic_turf/crumb-rubber_infilled/fact_sheet.htm#:~:text=People playing on synthetic turf,the skin of guinea pigs.
And
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/new-studies-show-pfas-artificial-grass-blades-and-backing
And the NFL players want their fields changed from artificial turf to natural grass due to higher injuries
https://apnews.com/article/nfl-football-archive-9b34d4402f2f82ae60708605f65aa560
What we really need to do is better maintain and repair natural grass playing fields for sports.

So we want to waste even more money down the road on grass. The brand new grass field will be back to a mess after two years of no one maintaining it, geese grazing on it, so we will be back to asking for more money to fix the same field four years from now. Cross Football has to play all its home games at Bowen. Cross has not had a home thanksgiving game in years. Injuries will occur whether you play on grass or turf. Cross has played years on turf at all its away games and home games. Concussions will happen in a violent sport. It’s about changing the equipment that will help not the surface.

I've spent much of my life playing and coaching, and I've watched first hand a couple other towns go through the turf/grass high school field debate. Most players prefer to play on natural grass if the grass is extremely well maintained; nothing is better than a perfect grass field. But keeping a grass field in great shape is a huge challenge, usually only a university or private school can do it because they can limit it's use. If New Haven wants to invest the resources in maintaining a top-level grass field, I fully support that!
But its nearly impossible. Even if you invest in the sprinklers and staff to constantly maintain it, you can't keep people off it. If you have a perfect grass field inside the Cross track, or at Rice Field, everyone's going to want to use it. And you certainly can't use it for both football and other sports (football games destroy the grass). And will youth teams be allowed to use it? To keep a grass field in great condition you can really only play on it a few times a week, maybe once per day tops.

Ask a player if they prefer to play on a crappy grass field or a turf field and most will say turf. And with turf, you can play on it all day every day, so it can benefit many more people.. youth leagues, local frisbee league, pickup leagues, etc.

Most of what I'm saying applies to soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey. Football might have a stronger argument for grass (and the condition of the grass may be less important to football).

I know there are many studies comparing injuries on turf vs grass but most of the ones I've read don't account for variables such as the quality of the grass. For ex/ if a study is comparing injury rates for college athletes, most college athletes playing on grass are playing on that top-quality grass. If they were playing on Rice Field or even your average grass town field, the numbers might look different.

There's a reason almost every public high school in the suburban towns chose turf.

You guys are acting like no one has maintained a grass field before. Literally 95% of all fields pre-1980 we’re grass. Yikes. Water prefer grass, so does Earth.

Anyone from Hamden or West Haven can tell you about their synthetic turf football fields. Disaster - do your research.

Football puts asses in seats, even on Thanksgiving, so that violent sport earns top priority.

At NHPSteacher- no way in the world NH invests the resources to maintain the field daily. Where will football practice daily. They won’t be able to use the grass field everyday- all day. So now you have to grade the grass area and make a practice field next to the game field. This 100 percent would need to happen.