Crumb rubber turf athletic fields are
located at many schools, but one field in particular is raising
concerns in Montgomery County, Maryland, due to its condition.
Parents
are worried about sections of the football field at Walter Johnson High
School that appear to have become damaged and degraded.
Members
of the Montgomery County Civic Federation said they spent considerable
effort getting information about the condition of the field through
Maryland's Public Record Laws. They said the results were worse than
they expected, and they're worried it might not provide sufficient
cushioning on impact.
Maintenance records, which included impact testing, were also sought through public records laws.
"We
found that some sections had potential for injury levels that tested
higher than the maximum recommended by the NFL," said Bailey Condrey,
with the Montgomery County Civic Federation.
The artificial turf on the football field was installed in 2010 and made by a company called FieldTurf.
In
a statement to Forbes magazine, which first reported the story, the
company said, "FieldTurf is committed to the safety of every athlete
that plays on each of our more than 7,000 fields. We stand behind the
testing and safety of the fields."
The
company also said Walter Johnson High School's field does meet industry
safety standards for shock absorption. Some school systems around the
U.S. have sued over the degradation of their fields.
B-CC will be using the Walter Johnson turf field for their home football/field hockey/soccer games this season as they are under construction.
ReplyDelete"Parents are worried" Nope. Not one parent has spoken up about this issue. They are not worried. Their only worry is that their kids won't have enough field time. But MCPS solved that problem, so it's all good. Parents love the artificial turf. Can't wait for their kids to play on it.
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