TURFGRASS RESEARCH
Research plots for the Club World Cup fields
To find a solution for the inaugural Club World Cup this year, the research team built a 30,000-square-foot synthetic turf plot at UT to test a variety of systems on top of the synthetic turf.
Said Sorochan,“ We’ ve got all sorts of systems— from plywood to aluminum flooring and the Permavoid shallow pitch profiles— including building up layers of sand above the artificial turf and reinforced flooring to see what we need in order to be like a natural pitch with 12 inches of sand.”
The research team will continue to research alternative grow lights and new grow light technologies, including different wavelengths of light that could be used to grow the grass faster or short and stunted.
“ Now that we understand how everything’ s going to react based on all the different elements that we can control, we’ re looking at directly applying it to the schedule that we have available,” said Fielder.
According to Fielder, the plan is for the grass for World Cup 26 to go in three weeks prior to the first game, which will allow a threeweek establishment period during which the grow lights will run uninterrupted for 12-hour cycles.
“ That gives us 22 moles of light, which is what we found optimal,” said Fielder.“ The lights will run for 12 hours, be off for 12 hours, and will be on that three-week increment on and off, almost uninterrupted.”
Once the match schedule is in effect, the various venues will have sporadic amounts of off days between matches, and the goal is to get as much recovery as possible during those short windows.
CHALLENGES One of the biggest challenges for researchers is the sheer distance between host sites, as well as the diverse climates across the three countries.
“ We’ ve got 16 stadiums, and the farthest two stadiums— Vancouver and Mexico City— are 3,000 miles apart, and the stadiums range from domes to a field at 7,200 feet,” said Sorochan.
According to Sorochan, some of the on-site challenges will be wear patterns and traffic— especially due to pregame rehearsals and opening ceremonies.
“ Each stadium wants an opening ceremony, and they want to rehearse on the field,” he said.“ In some instances, that causes more damage to the grass than the actual game itself. In the indoor stadiums, it also takes away from when the grow lights can be
24 SportsField Management | April 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com