Rockville HS New Bermuda Grass Football Field: "circulating rumors of leaky pipes and faulty equipment"

Joseph B. Good stadium has been a topic of discussion this school year, as athletes and coaches have transitioned from talking about what it will be like playing on the new Bermuda grass field to now speculating how many more games will be postponed due to flooding.

After the installation of the new field this summer, athletes and coaches expressed excitement and curiosity about what it would be like to play on the new field. However, after a deluge of recent rain, unforeseen drainage problems have delayed many teams’ early season home games.

Players struggled with traction early in the season as the integrity of the field was compromised during games.

“The first game was fun but it was so muddy and every time we would plant or cut, it would make a dirt patch,” said senior offensive lineman Jaylon Harry, who played on the new field during the football team’s first home game versus Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC).

The athletic department has rescheduled several games because of the field complications, including field hockey, soccer and football.

While there have been circulating rumors of leaky pipes and faulty equipment, athletic director Michael Hayes has been working to identify the exact problem and fix it soon...

https://rockvillerampage.com/12618/sports/poor-field-conditions-cause-cancellations/

Sentinel: Drainage problems at Magruder athletic field

DERWOOD - For the second sports season in a row, some of Magruder High School’s outdoor sports teams won’t have an open stadium to call their own until at least mid-November.

Consistent drainage problems at Magruder Stadium created inches-thick mud on the playing field during the spring sports season and continued into the summer.

That forced the Montgomery County Public Schools system to spend thousands of dollars to replace the Bermuda grass on the field in Derwood while working out other repair issues.

So while contractors work on replacing the stadium’s drainage system, Magruder’s football and soccer teams will be hosting their home games on the artificial turf at Gaithersburg High School, located about five miles to the west.

It’s a familiar situation for Gaithersburg just a few years after construction projects at the school forced its sports teams to play home games at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.

The same thing also happened not too long ago to Paint Branch High School.

Meanwhile this season, Magruder isn’t alone in playing its home games away: Montgomery Blair High School is serving as Wheaton High School’s temporary home too for its stadium sports.

Magruder Stadium, which seats up to 4,000 people, is slated to reopen Nov. 15.

Originally, Magruder officials targeted Sept. 30 as a potential opening day but construction delays pushed the projected opening date back by one and a half months.

“And when we saw it in the summer, it wasn't progressing as fast as we hoped,” said Magruder athletic director Karl Heimbach, later adding, “You have to work with what you have. There [are] a lot of players involved in doing a big project like this and all the pieces have to come together to get it completed.”

Construction work included laying new Bermuda grass, redoing the field’s irrigation system, reattaching the irrigation system to the other fields tied into it and replacing both the draining system and the track around the football field...

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2521:drainage-problems-at-magruder-athletic-field&Itemid=766