(CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee) - On Monday, September 5th, remnants of Tropical Storm Lee created a deluge that set all-time, one-day rainfall records throughout Chattanooga, Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.
Over 10 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period, surpassing the record of 7.61 inches, set in 1886.
The rain closed schools and businesses, while creating flooding throughout the area. The rain, however, did nothing to diminish the playability of AstroTurf fields serving area sports teams.
“We practiced on the AstroTurf on Monday,” said Mark Mariakis, head coach of Ridgeland High School in Rossville, Georgia. “We have a game to prepare for. It was business as usual for us.”
Playability and availability, as it relates to weather, have always been key selling points for any synthetic turf system. Many companies make claims about drainage rates, but few ever have the opportunity to showcase field performance in an extreme weather situation like Monday’s.
Ridgeland has an AstroTurf GameDay Grass™ 3D60H system. McCallie and Gordon Lee have the AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D60 Extreme system.
All AstroTurf GameDay Grass fields have extensive drainage systems in the base work and the turf features 5/16-inch perforations on four-inch centers throughout the field. These systems are designed to drain over 30 inches per hour.
The McCallie School in Chattanooga did not practice on the field Monday because school was out, but Coach Bubba Simmons kept tabs on how the field was doing.
“It drained just like it was supposed to,” he said. “On Tuesday, we practiced and had two games on the field.”
It was much the same for Kevin McElhaney, head coach at Gordon Lee High School in nearby Chickamauga, Georgia.
“We practiced inside because the rain was coming down so hard,” he said. “But the field was ready and available. We were right back out there on Tuesday with no problems at all.”
Synthetic turf fields offer over four times the availability of natural grass fields for play and practice. Natural grass fields, when besieged by this type of weather, can be muddy and can have areas of standing water. Most schools, in this situation, will limit practice and play for safety reasons and aesthetic reasons.
“I can say that if this happened two years ago when we were still playing on grass, we probably wouldn’t have been able to even host home games for several weeks,” said Mariakis.
Kansas Jayhawks head baseball coach Ritch Price faced a similar situation before installing an AstroTurf playing field.
Kansas suffers through extreme weather in winter and early spring. Just the residual effects of weather can keep the team off the field. In a conference with powerhouses such as Texas and Oklahoma, which don’t typically undergo the same effects of bad weather, decreased practice time can have a major affect on a team’s performance.
In their last season playing on natural grass, Kansas missed 19 practice days because of weather effects on the field. Since converting to AstroTurf, Kansas hasn’t had to deal with the effects of weather as they did in the past.
It’s made a difference in the Chattanooga area, too.
“The only problem we faced in the rain was the ball being wet,” said Simmons, of McCallie’s experience with the downpour. “I told our kids that they are very lucky and should be thankful that they attend a school where support for the program allows them to be able to play on a surface like AstroTurf.”
McElhaney echoed those sentiments.
“Having this AstroTurf field is going to lead to better practice, better game performance, and increased support for our program,” he said.
Yet, while it was nice not having to miss practice and playing time, all three coaches agreed that they’d rather not see another 10-inch torrential downpour this season.
This Friday, Ridgeland faces Cedartown, McCallie plays Tyner, and Gordon Lee has an off week.
About AstroTurf®
For many athletes and sport enthusiasts, the AstroTurf® brand has redefined the way the game is played. The company offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies, leveraging the industry’s first vertically integrated manufacturing system. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf®-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority and safety. Recent innovations from AstroTurf® include GameDay Grass™ 3D with RootZone®, a polyethylene/nylon hybrid system which most closely replicates natural grass; a non-chemical antimicrobial shield protecting against MRSA and other infectious bacteria; and AstroFlect™ Technology which significantly reduces turf surface temperatures. To learn more, visit www.astroturfusa.com.
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