New artificial turf field will greet Mendham H.S. Minutemen this football season

Fundraiser seeks $275K to pay off Mendham field

By Meghan Van Dyk
Daily Record

MENDHAM -- The West Morris Mendham High School Minutemen will kick off the fall season on a new artificial turf field, immediately followed by a walk-a-thon to help fund the field's remaining $275,000 balance.

The Time for Turf group already has raised more than $525,000 toward the field and is holding two events this season to pay off the balance. The artificial turf field was installed this summer by General Sports Venue.

The first fundraiser is a walk-a-thon after the home-opener on Sept. 19. Participants will walk up to 10 laps around the field, donating at least $100 each. In addition, a golf outing will be held on Sept. 29 at the Rockaway River Golf Club, and supporters also can purchase engraved pavers to be placed in a walkway at the high school stadium.

Time for Turf, an organization of parents of athletes from a variety of sports, approached the West Morris Regional Board of Education about the idea of a field more than a year ago, according to Kathleen Salerno, the group's president.

"Since the school was built in the 1970s, it has grown with the population, but the land has not," Salerno said. "With all the new sports, they were running out of field space."

The school formerly had to bus the lacrosse team to practice on nearby Black River Field in Chester and rented space at an indoor sports facility in Randolph when there was inclement weather.

According to West Morris Mendham High School Athletic Director Jim Baglin, the turf will be a true "game-changer."

"The benefits are two-fold for all our sports teams," he said. "They will be able to play on the field in bad weather, and it will also give them an advantage when playing an away game on turf. It is a lot different than playing on a grass field."

Baglin said a growing number of schools in the Minutemen's league have added artificial turf fields recently, including Chatham, Morristown, Parsippany Hills and Summit.

Artificial fields require little maintenance and can last 10 to 15 years under heavy play. General Sports Venue stands behind its product in assuring that all synthetic turf fibers in their products, including those that use polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon fibers, are lead-free.

Multi-use field

The field will be used for football, field hockey, soccer and band rehearsals -- for both high school and recreational sports -- throughout the year.

West Morris Regional Board of Education President Cristen Forrester said the district was thrilled to accept the gift.

"In this fiscal climate, it would not have been possible for the district to fund the field," Forrester said. "It's great to have parents, especially on the high school level, be involved in their kids' educational and school lives."

Time for Turf originally set out to raise funds for two artificial turf fields on a $1.3 million budget, but that plan was foiled by the field's 100-year-old flood drainage system. The maintenance work increased the project cost by almost a quarter of a million dollars, so it was scaled back to one field.

The owner of General Sports Venue, Michael Dennis, who has two children in the district, offered a "very competitive bid" and allowed the field to be built before it was fully paid for so the teams could begin practicing on it in the beginning of the season, Salerno said.

Teams began using the field this week, and the freshman football team played their first game on it against Dover on Friday.