The St. Charles Parish school district is now accepting bids for the installation of an artificial turf system at both Hahnville and Destrehan High Schools.
Once considered a luxury item reserved only for private schools, artificial turf is becoming more and more commonplace on high school fields around the nation.
The surface, made with millions of synthetic fibers sewn together with rubber granules providing cushion, not only provides more safety for student athletes, but also negates the impact of rain. That alone makes it profitable for schools by allowing different sports to play or practice on one field.
No longer will there be rain delays or cancelled junior varsity games and no longer will the soccer teams have to leave campus just to practice.
And as an extra bonus for area football coaches, they can spend all day before a game actually preparing for their opponents instead of lining and cutting the field.
“Thursdays we are out here from 7 a.m. until practice starts at 2:30 p.m. painting and lining the field,” Destrehan football coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “It’s an all day process.”
While reducing strain on coaches and allowing other sports besides football to easily fit in practice is one big benefit that turf provides, the most important issue is safety.
Coordinator of Physical Plant Services and Athletics Willie Wise said that the surface, which has an inch and a half of rubber, is forgiving on ankles and knees and also reduces helmet-to-surface impact for players, which drastically lowers the number of concussions.
In fact, the only downside to turf is the price. Installing a new artificial turf field often runs around $1 million, though the figure varies depending on the amount of work needed to prepare a field for the process.
However, though that amount may seem high, keeping up a grass field can be just as costly. Especially since artificial turf has a life expectancy of more than 10 years.
“People always talk about how much turf would cost, but a lot of people don’t realize how much money goes into maintaining the grass,” Robicheaux said. “With fertilizer and general upkeep, it can get expensive.”
Wise agrees, saying that it cost the district thousands of dollars in paint, thousands in fertilizer and thousands in seed just to keep the field in shape.
Not to mention the money the turf will save the school district by canceling out the need for another field.
“When people think of turf, they always assume it’s only for football,” Robicheaux said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that it will allow all our other teams, from soccer to band, to practice on the football field. This would be a great addition to our school.”
And while the turf will provide a benefit for a majority of each school’s athletic teams, it will bring one huge advantage to the football squads.
“Of course, I like it for the speed factor,” Robicheaux, whose team dominated Acadiana on the Superdome turf, said.
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