July 2020 – Collaroy Cromer Strikers Football Club

Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 11

28/07/2020/in The more you know /by Liam Bonney

Another improvement that could be made to artificial fields is to somehow reduce the abrasiveness of them. Many players including myself have gone in for slide tackles, or simply been shoved over only to come off the artificial turf all cut up. Now I don’t mean the occasional graze, that is just apart of football. I mean, taken a few layers of skin off to say the least.

The abrasiveness also has an impact on football boots and balls as well. Football boot brands now have specific built boots for artificial grass. These boots tend to feature a higher gum and rivets that attach the soleplate to the upper part of the boot. This is because artificial grass fields have been known to split boots as a result of wear and tear. I have experienced this myself when I had a pair that split after 10 weeks of wearing them relentlessly on artificial grass when they were made for natural grass or “firm ground”.

Footballs have also had to change, and I believe the outer shell of the ball is made slicker so that it slides across the surface rather then gripping and spinning on it. The gripping and spinning eventually leads to scratches and then tears. This can initially alter the way the ball moves, but then later can lead to holes rendering the ball unusable. Although I have never seen or used an artificial grass football, I know that they are out there. So, what is the solution.

America has been using synthetic and artificial fields since way before Australia. Hence you would assume that they are a little more advanced on the quality of fields provided. Allegedly on some fields in America they use a sand, nutshell and rubber combination in conjunction with the plastic grass. This apparently acts in a way that is a lot like the conditions provided by natural grass. Players do not get torn to shreds every time they go to ground.

I have also heard of hybrid plastic and real grass fields. However, this to me defeats the purpose of having artificial grass as it means you must be able to maintain the hybrid field more than you would a full artificial grass field.

Regardless if there was a way to reduce the abrasiveness of artificial grass whilst being able to keep all of the benefits it provides it would certainly provide a better experience.

Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 10

21/07/2020/in The more you know /by Liam Bonney

Artificial fields are here to stay, it’s the way it is now. But as with everything there are ways to potentially improve what is being done. One such improvement targets the heat that comes off fields. Now I am no scientist, but I think that the black rubber pellets are the main reason for this. It’s a well known fact that black attracts heat, if you have ever stepped into a black car on a hot sunny day you will know what I am talking about.

The same principle applies to the artificial grass fields. The black rubber pellets elevate the heat at ground level significantly. But what if the pellets were white? Well I think the temperature would be significantly reduced. Meaning that playing on the fields would be a lot more comfortable.

This could be possible if after the rubber went through the mincer it was then painted white. This would mean an additional cost of both the machine and the paint. As well as an extra amount of time spent waiting for the pieces to dry. But if it means more comfortable playing conditions then I think it would vastly improve the experience.

This would mean that the line markings would have to change and potentially even the ball. The lines are currently white plastic grass with the black rubber pellets and would need to be changed black plastic grass and white rubber pellets. The field would remain the same green plastic grass colour. This would look weird at first and may look as if there was snow on the field, but I think it would add to the experience from a visual point of view.

The ball may also have to change to a bright yellow winter ball. White balls may clash with the new white pellets and be hard to pick up. So, changing the balls to something brighter like they do in countries with a lot of snow would be an easy fix for this.

Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 9

14/07/2020/in The more you know /by Liam Bonney

Another Alternative to artificial fields is completely re-doing the natural grass fields. I do not just mean re-turfing or flattening out the surface. I mean going down 1 or 2 metes ensuring the ground is level. Raising the fields so that they drain properly. Creating the best soil structure and compositions so that the ground does not degrade unevenly if at all. The right type of grass so that it lasts longer is more durable and potentially does not even need to be mowed. A complete and utter re-construction.

Not that I am 100% sure on this but I believe St George council in Sydney’s south did this very thing. From what I understand it has a similar cost to that of the artificial fields. But they got it right from what I have been told. The fields are natural grass and withstand the punishment subjected to them over the winter months. They did the exact thing I described above by completely redoing the grounds from the soil structure to the type of grass.

As an alternative though this is expensive, not just to do initially but it also provides minimal on going cost savings. The grass will still need to be mowed, water and sprayed at some points throughout the year. Personally, I also doubt that the goal mouths and center circles of the fields would hold up for the entire season and I would assume that after a season they would also need to be relayed.

So, although this is an alternative it is not one that would provide any savings or benefits to players beyond the fields being flat and potentially better quality. Although I believe that it would only be a matter of time until the ground would degrade yet again and then you go back into the cycle that currently occurs.

Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 8

07/07/2020/in The more you know /by Liam Bonney

There are of course always alternatives to such large projects. The main reason I believe the grounds are changing to artificial grass is due to the cost. I do not have an alternative to this, it really is so much more cost effective for the council to have artificial fields compared to natural grass ones. Having said this some of the reason for artificial fields do have alternatives.

The main one being the grounds cannot cope with the amount of sport being played on them. On the surface this does make sense, especially when you see the condition that the grounds are in after the season. But as I have recently discovered there is an alternative to this. Many of the grounds that are present in my area do not have flood lights. This is not a problem in summer because the sun does not go down until 7 – 8pm. But in winter the sun goes down at 5. Meaning that senior teams many of whom do not finish work until 5:30 cannot train at the grounds without lights. This leaves the ground only available for junior teams to be able to use. Many of these though do not finish school until 3 and cannot get to the ground until 3:30 at the earliest. This only means that the ground is available for less than 2 hours.

Now out of the 5 or so grounds closest to where I live a third of them do not have these flood lights. If they did though it would mean the surrounding grounds would not be used as much. The flood lights cost a fraction of what the artificial fields cost and in terms of trying to preserve the fields could have been an option.

But as I understand it the council explored this option and to my disbelief it got knocked back and rejected by the residents. I find this quite ridiculous; the lights are only on until 9:15 pm that is a pretty normal bedtime. I suppose noise might also be a factor, but trainings usually finish at 9 at the latest and after people leave the field its quiet. If it is seriously that big of a problem, close the window and shut the blinds, right?