Artificial Turf Fields in High School Athletics

 We reside in a small, rural southern New Jersey town that is, in all honestly, fairly to very affluent. The township's local public high school has produced a record number of state championship contenders and winners; within the past five years alone, Moorestown High School has fielded (pardon the pun!) at least twenty-five State Championship teams in field hockey, soccer, cross country, tennis, football, and most of all, in lacrosse. (The MHS girls' varsity lacrosse team has won four consecutive state championships and ranks anywhere from first to fifth in the nation according to the Laxpower.com polls. The boys' lacrosse program has also, like the girls' program, sent numerous students on their way to some pretty prestigious colleges with full athletic scholarships.)

And yet, these teams have practiced, practiced, practiced in all kinds of weather on township fields that can be classified as 'pretty beaten up' at pretty much any season of the year. Moorestown township fields, as well as all of the Moorestown public school district fields, are all grass fields. They fall prey to constant overuse, to the whims of Mother Nature, to too many sports at both the middle school, high school, Recreation Department, club and travel fields vieying for game and practice space on far too many grass fields. A high school whose athletic program consistently ranks at the top of the state deserve better. Not only are the grass fields throughout the township in disgraceful condition, they also provide a very dangerous playing field for these young athletes as well. Over the past eight years, I've watched my daughters' field hockey and lacrosse teams play; I've seen our players and players from the other fields trip, fall and injure themselves on the rutted, uneven field surfaces. Most of the players sustained minor injuries, while an unfortunate few ended up with broken legs and ankles. 

What our township is planning to do might very well be the game plan for your school district or town as well.