Squeaky shoes walk across the Woodland floor as the football team realizes that their practice is inside instead of outside because the grass fields are being affected by rain. With this situation continuing, many players are asking, can turf be an option to keep the fields up to par?
Artificial turf has been a topic of concern amongst the parents and athletes of the Region 16 community because the football and soccer fields are constantly put to shame. One of the biggest problems includes the numerous injuries that Woodland Athletes have faced. Unfortunately, the most recent vote did not result in approval for the turf field.
“I think that in sports, especially football, people are going to get hurt whether you are playing on a grass field or turf field; It’s more about functionality,” said Woodland Athletic Director Christopher Daily.
Back in April of this year, the National Football League Players Association pointed to studies from 2022 that show a significant increase in non-contact injuries on artificial surfaces versus grass fields. The NFL has since defended the use of artificial turf. NFL players supporting the idea of grass returning to all NFL stadiums doesn’t quite make sense in the eyes of the student athletes at Woodland.
Most athletes at Woodland agree that turf would be a much better match for Woodland as the home football games are usually postponed if the game gets rained out.
“If it rains here at Woodland then the field gets all muddy and torn up, but if we had turf then that won’t happen,” said sophomore football player Mark Poulin.
Soccer players are also feeling the effects of an ill-maintained field and boys head coach Kenan Collins agrees.
“Despite the work that they’ve done on the field with the drainage system, it’s still not the best field training wise and I do have a few kids injured right now.”
With another hail mary of a vote coming into play on October 25th, 83% of the community is already in favor of gaining this artificial turf according to over 600 surveys completed by the townspeople. The turf can be a win for the Woodland community in the foreseeable future.
