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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Nothing terribly artificial about fake grass
posted by jmeagher at 18h26
Worker lays grass sod for AC Milan-Impact game at Big O. (Gazette, M.F. Coallier)
It is hard to think of anything as fake as synthetic grass being a Godsend, but the folks at John Abbott College are tickled pink at the thought of having a green carpet in their backyard.
Last week, local politicians and school officials announced a $3-millon dollar project that will see the installation of an artificial playing surface, new lights and bleacher seating for 800 at the CEGEP’s main field in Ste.Anne’s.
Abbott’s athletic director Steve Shaw said no less than seven intercollegiate teams (soccer, rugby, football and lacrosse) will use the permanently green pitch.
Shaw said the installation of new lighting is almost as important as the field itself, because it will allow teams to host night games during the week, easing the travel burden of students on weekends.
Most artificial surfaces, covered with so many painted lines for different sports, are about as attractive as Don Cherry’s wardrobe.
But they have become an essential piece of modern recreational infrastructure. They require little maintenance and depending on winter’s grip, you can practice and play on them for approximately nine months a year, from late March till early December.
Unlike natural grass, they are meant to be “overused” by kids in cleats.
Better still, they never grow a weed or turn into a mud bath during a downpour.
Speaking of downpours, I was at the Icebreaker Soccer Tournament in Ottawa last weekend and witnessed firsthand how well well-maintained natural grass fields can hold up to inclement weather when the skies opened up on Sunday.
Of the five fields at the Ottawa Business Park location, nearly all of them were in better shape than almost anything you’d see locally.
Guess Ottawa grows better grass.
If that much rain were to fall here during a soccer tournament, most natural fields on the West Island would have turned into an unplayable quagmire.
Amazing what real grass can do.
I’ve always said that nothing truly compares to a well-maintained, natural grass pitch. There is a good reason why AC Milan asked the Impact to lay down 95,000 square feet of natural grass for last week’s friendly at the Big O.
But with so few fields for so many soccer teams, artificial turf fields, despite their hefty price tags, are gradually sprouting up like dandelions across the West Island.
The long-awaited turf pitch at Grier Park in Pierrefonds is nearing completion, which should make Pierrefonds Soccer prez Fern Da Silva happy - as soon as the goalposts are installed. And Pointe Claire is supposed to turf Terra Cotta Park, which comes as a mixed blessing since it will replace one of the nicest baseball diamonds in Montreal.
There is also talk of BeaconHill Park in Beaconsfield getting the green carpet treatment in the future.
Places like Dorval, Kirkland, Lachine, Ile-Bizard, St. Lazare and Dollard have already gone faux grass.
One major drawback to artificial turf is that it reaches wickedly hot temperatures on steamy summer days. The surface needs to be watered down in cases of extreme heat.
But I’ve yet to hear from a single sports club or municipality that regrets having an artificial turf surface. Most local sports associations are just happy to know they have a reliably flat surface to play on with accurately painted lines.
And like artificial Christmas trees and composite hockey sticks, fake grass is here to stay.
jmeagher@thegazette.canwest.com