Letters to the Editor: Synthetic fields

Reader response to: "Infill systems spark debate at STMA conference," Athletic Turf News, February 20, 2004.

I am involved in maintaining playing fields in the San Francisco Bay area and read your article on heat generated by artificial fields.

Just this past year, we had serious complaints from parents, coaches and kids playing on artificial fields during the summer. The heat energy absorbed and then coming off the black crumb rubber was so extreme that there was serious consideration to cancelling games due to the extreme heat.

It's not that I don't think they are great surfaces, but if kids are keeling over in the moderate temperature San Francisco Bay area, I cannot fathom what it would be like to play on these surfaces in hot and humid places.

Doug Fielding
President, The Companion Group

Great article.. I was in that room that day and can recall everything just as you described it.

I have worked on athletic fields for quite some time and am currently running my own business called Athletic Construction, Inc. I have some clients who wish to have the infill systems installed. So, I, as a CSFM, give them all the information I can for them to make the decision that will best suit them. Then we look at all the alternatives and compare them on a number of different topics. This helps the client to make their best choice.

Thanks for the article. Now I can have clients look you up to confirm the information I have been giving them.

Tony L. Strickland, CSFM
President, Athletic Construction Inc.
Vice-President, North Georgia Landscape and Turf Association

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