The newest artificial playing surface is being installed in more and more high school football stadiums across the state. Dyersville Beckman high school has installed field turf this summer and football coach Gregg Hammann says the new surface will also be used for soccer, track, the marching band and other team practices.
“It’s very, very fortunate for us to get one of the top installers in the country…to put the field in,” Hammann says. “…They drove up from Texas and they’re working on the field.”
Hammann says a new surface was needed to accomodate all the events the stadium hosts. “As we started having soccer games on there and then the youth sports events that we would like to have on that field, the real number is like 60 events a year that should be played. The natural grass field that we had just won’t take it,” Hammann says. “We had to start looking at alternatives in order to keep the kids safe as well…As the field gets torn up, people start twisting ankles and hurting knees and those kind of things.”
The field turf project was kicked off by an anonymous contribution of $150,000. It will be ready for the Blazers first home football game this fall.
(Reporting by Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester)