Natural Grass Turf is the Big Winner for Sports Fields

In the ongoing turf war over natural grass vs. artificial grass on our sports fields, the natural turf side scored a big win this week: a report in the Star Tribune about a FIFA-commissioned survey of soccer players shows 77 percent of the athletes feel major tournaments should be played on grass. The poll was sparked by lawyers’ action representing players in next year’s Women’s World Cup.

The report notes that the main driver for natural grass turf for these athletes is safety:

“Not only do soccer balls move differently on natural grass, but injuries are also less likely, players say….

“Wambach says that players can’t slide into tackles as they normally would because of potential injuries to their knees and legs, and they certainly risk getting hurt on hard landings from diving headers.”

If anything, the demand for natural grass turf is even higher than the main survey result showed. While 15 percent were neutral – presumably just not having enough experience on both kinds of turf to make an informed decision, just 8 percent of players strongly thought artificial turf was the way to go. To put it another way, fewer than one in 10 of professional athletes in this survey wanted something other than natural grass turf.

The result echoes research carried out for the National Football League, where playing on even more modern – and allegedly, safer versions of artificial turf still resulted in plenty of athletic career-killing leg injuries – so much for ‘safer’.

Give Professional Athletes What They Want: Natural Grass Turf

We offer a range of grass options for sports fields in BC and Alberta, from Sand Sport HPRS and our un-netted Sand Sport turf to a cost-effective Utility Grade turf that’s easy to install in public areas. Check out our products and pricing – we’re just a phone call away.