May 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 83

ture exceeds 80 degrees, coaches
exercise caution in conducting
activities on artificial turf fields.
* When outdoor temperatures exceed 90 degrees, coaches may
hold one regular morning or
evening practice (before noon or
after 5 p.m.).
* When the heat index is between
91-104 degrees between the
hours of noon and 5 p.m., school
athletic activities are restricted
on artificial turf fields to one
hour, with water breaks every 20
minutes.
For the safety of their players,
athletic departments at many
colleges and universities schedule practices either in the early
morning or late evening to avoid
peak high-temperature times.
The Synthetic Turf Council also
recommends that " practices and
events on synthetic turf fields be
scheduled for cooler hours of the
morning or evening during hightemperature summer months, that
activities be limited in duration
and intensity and that athletes be
especially well-hydrated and regularly given breaks. "
Penn State's Center for Sports
Surface Research lists the following
conditions under which synthetic
surfaces get hot:
* Sunny/Clear
* Low humidity
* No clouds
* Noon - 3 p.m.
If playing on a hot synthetic turf
field is unavoidable, Penn State's
Center for Sports Surface Research
notes that heavy watering before
the game can help reduce surface

How does this compare to
natural grass?
Over 100° F (38° C) very rare on natural
grass
± Commonly 75° to 95° F
(25° to 35° C) on hot day
± Less than air
temperature

Generally, synthetic
turf 35° to 55° F (20° to
30° C) hotter than
natural grass
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temperature, but it cautions that
this is only effective for a short period of time. Temperatures rebound
after only about 20 minutes (less
time than it takes to play a regulation half game of soccer). Adding
irrigation to, even watering, this
type of sports field could cost thousands of dollars and, depending
on the type of infill used, be ineffective, as water could simply roll
off the surface and not really soak
in to provide that small window of
temperature relief. As a result, this
may not be as cost effective or as
safe as scheduling games around
peak high-heat times.

Moving Forward
As previously mentioned, synthetic turf sports fields are appealing because, outside of weather
conditions that include lightning,
they can be used year-round and

SOURCE: NATURAL GRASS ATHLETIC FIELDS POWERPOINT FROM SPORTS TURF MANAGERS ASSOCIATION

This slide shows the temperature
comparison between natural grass and
synthetic turf.

during inclement weather and are
seen as being low maintenance.
Both perceptions are debatable
(the latter could be the basis of
another article) - the former
because as we encounter longer,
more frequent periods of extreme
heat (leading to more " code red "
or " code orange " days) more " sunny " days will fall into the " inclement weather " category. As we enter
into the summer months, it's important to keep in mind that as
durable as turf fields are, they still
require maintenance and oversight
to be used under safe conditions, especially during the heat of summer.
The solutions may vary depending
on local areas' needs, but the desire
to find solutions for safe conditions
for all to enjoy summer sports is
universal.
Sonia Myrick is the Executive Editor for Parks
& Recreation magazine (smyrick@nrpa.org).

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