SPORTING GROUNDS
University of North Carolina Karen Shelton Stadium . Photo by Anthony Crisafulli on behalf of Activitas .
Harvard University Mignone Field . Photo by RAD Sports . time — meet the needs of the sport being played , and then , after the game , make the appropriate adjustments to meet the needs of the next event ,” he said .
According to Dossett , the biggest challenge he faces is maintaining the goal creases on lacrosse fields .
“ The goal is not very wide ; therefore , the goalie wears this area badly ,” said Dossett . “ Also there is so much activity around these areas from other players either trying to score or help defend the goal . We approach this challenge in various ways . One is to move the goals during practice to an area that doesn ’ t see as much action during games . Constant moving of goals is a must . We re-seed these areas as we can , and sometimes even cut thick sod from the extreme out-ofplay edges of the overseeded field to replace the area in front of the goals .”
Mark Heinlein , MSc , CFB , director of technical projects and research at The Motz Group , and chairman of the American Sports Builders Association , agrees that managing extreme wear areas , such as the goal crease in lacrosse , is the biggest challenge to maintaining fields in the sporting grounds category .
“ That goalie sits in a 6-foot circle ,” said Heinlein . “ So it is a significant issue from a maintenance standpoint .”
“ While lacrosse has typically been a sport that is played on a multi-purpose field that hosts other sports , like soccer or football , we are seeing more lacrosse-specific venues installed at the college level ,” said Patrick Maguire , RLA , president and managing principal of Activitas . “ This is also true of rugby , which has seen an uptick in popularity , even at the high school level . Since it is by far the largest of all fields , we are seeing more and more rugby-specific venues . Since the advent of infilled turf taking over the major stadiums that used to be traditional short pile AstroTurf , we have seen many field-hockey-specific venues installed over the past decade .”
Maguire added that the past few years have seen significant growth in field hockey at the high school and college levels .
When it comes to field design and construction , rugby and field hockey have international governing bodies that recognize the importance of field playing conditions and athlete safety , said Megan Buczynski , P . E ., LEED AP , principal civil engineer at Activitas .
“ Field hockey at the higher levels is typically played on a short pile system with a watering system , and has very specific recommendations for resilience and ball roll ,” said Buczynski . “ Rugby , be it played on natural grass or synthetic turf , has guidelines that pay particular attention to safety and resilience with the goal of minimizing the potential for concussions . Checking in with these governing bodies while planning for a field is always a good idea .”
Heinlein added that field hockey is almost always played on synthetic turf , because of requirements for ball / surface interaction and player / surface interaction .
According to Maguire , the majority of new fields built in the last decade were synthetic , but natural grass fields are making a comeback .
“ I think this is really a credit to the sports field managers who have done a great job of keeping conditions on grass fields as close to optimal as possible ,” he said . “ We ’ ve also seen a great deal more interest at the professional level in hybrid field technology , as well as vacuum and air exchange systems and under-soil heating systems . The number of venues that are also looking into augmenting sunlight with artificial lighting systems is growing substantially .”
According to Buczynski , designing a multi-purpose field to host soccer , field hockey , lacrosse , rugby , etc ., is difficult because each sport craves a different type of surface to best support play .
“ Working with the owner to help him or her understand how the properties of a surface , whether it be natural or artificial , impact the sport is essential in assisting the owner with the final surface decision ,” she said . SFM
John Kmitta is associate publisher and editorial brand director of SportsField Management magazine . sportsfieldmanagementonline . com May 2021 | SportsField Management
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