Landscape Architect Articles

2008 March LSMP Sports Turf Management: Covering the Bases of Field Covers03-03-08 | News

Covering the Bases of Field Covers

Unrolling a tarp for a major league baseball game is a challenge and an art form all in one. Normally taking between 15-20 crew members, this heavy 170 foot by 170 foot vinyl tarp must be unraveled the moment a game is delayed to protect the field. Workers must make sure they unroll the heavy tarp smoothly without getting caught under it.

Field covers are vital tools to sports turf managers. The beating outdoor playing fields take due to rain, wind, snow and ice can cause expensive and time-consuming damage. Because of this, having an efficient field covering system is key to preserving a safe surface. By preventing excess rain water from soaking into the dirt and turf, covers and tarps keep your fields looking professional and allow for events to be held on schedule. Since rain is the one thing that you as groundskeepers can?EUR??,,????'?????<

In addition to inclement weather, intense traffic from non-sporting events such as stadium concerts, commencements, and non-traditional events can also do severe damage. Periods of non-use during the offseason, field covers will help maintain the integrity of your surface.

In addition to sports fields, courts, equipment and floors can also be protected by tarps and covers. They allow your sports activities to continue according to schedule following periods of rain. The dollars spent on a cover can be earned back several times over just by the ticket fees and concessions profits that would otherwise be lost if a game has to be forfeited.

LSMP spoke with Thomas Bell at CoverMaster and Matt Jacobs at Protective Sports Concepts, LLC about the many types of field covers available.

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A typical tarp weighs in excess of 300 lbs. and is rolled around a large steel or PVC pipe. Depending on thickness, color, and quality, CoverMaster sports field covers can range in price from a few hundred dollars all the way up to a few thousand dollars.

Tarps for professional football fields, like this one at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin, are kept on the field up until an hour or two before game time during periods of inclement weather. On this occasion, the tarp has done its job, as a layer of ice formed on top and kept the field dry.

One of the most common colors used for is royal blue because unlike white, it does not block out all the light, but instead lets some light through. This is critical to keep valuable turf from being damaged or killed. Normally field covers are used during the winter months in colder climates, so a certain level of grass damage is expected.

Because of the diverse needs of sports turf managers across the country, many manufacturers custom design and build field covers to fit individual needs, with a number of fabric types and colors available. Some of these include:

Football and soccer field athletic field covers
Baseball field, home-plate, mound and bull pen covers
Track and field athletic field covers
Geo textile covers used on the sidelines of football fields to protect the grass from players standing and jumping the same area an entire game.
Gym floor covers which normally come in pieces rather than one large tarp.

Famous Tarp Tales

While San Diego is not known for bad weather, their grounds crew must have field covers available in times of need. After these workers have unrolled pieces of the tarp, they will begin to connect them with a system of grommets and ties. This method is not effective in times of heavy rain however, as the sections where these covers overlap sometimes can allow for water to filter through.

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Down two games to one, heading into game four with light rain falling on the field, the Busch Stadium grounds crew prepared to roll up the electronically-operated tarp that covered the Astroturf surface during pre-game warm-ups.

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The injuries, including a bone chip in his knee and bruises in his leg, were serious enough that Coleman had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

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Source: Baseballlibrary.com.

2007 Philadelphia Phillies vs Colorado Rockies

Rain and fierce winds caused the regular season game to be stopped before the start of the seventh inning. To protect the field, the Coors Field grounds crew began unrolling the field cover. However, when a worker was flung 10 feet in the air and immediately swallowed by the tarp, many Phillies sprung into action to help.

Players and coaches left the safety of the dugout to battle the billowing tarp that had engulfed three grounds crew members and provided serious help to the remaining 20 grounds crew members in a 10-minute fight with the elements.

Players fought to unravel the mangled tarp near home plate while watching for the trapped grounds crew members to escape from underneath.

Fierce unpredictable winds made the tarp increasingly uncooperative, and several Phillies dashed for sandbags, with bench coach Jimy Williams directing traffic. Bourn and Abraham Nunez led this task, with Nunez?EUR??,,????'?????<

After prevailing, the Phillies received a standing ovation from the 25,119 wet fans who appreciated the effort, and received handshakes from the grounds crew as they retreated to the dugout for a 50-minute rain delay.

Source: philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com.

1975 AFC Championship ?EUR??,,????'?????<

A cold front came through Pittsburgh the weekend of the divisional championship, taking temperatures into the teens. The winds off the three rivers were fierce. Game-time wind chills dropped to 12 below zero.

Yet, the true story came on the eve of the game. With the winds, the Three Rivers Stadium grounds crew was having an impossible time keeping the artificial turf from freezing. Dirt Denardo, the creative leader of the grounds crew, pieced together several tarps to cover the field, but the extra tarps gave him an idea. Denardo added the extra tarps in order to create a system to blow dry the field with heat to try to keep it warm. He placed powerful heaters under the tarps and let them blow. Overnight, however the winds got worse and ripped apart the tarps, exposing the Tartan turf to the elements.

What no one realized is that blowing hot air into tarps during sleeting conditions put water underneath the tarps. Ice formed, so the field was in bad shape. By the time kickoff arrived, the sidelines were frozen, causing the Raiders to complain that the Steelers were trying to take away their vertical, sideline passing game. Years before, the Steelers accused the Raiders of watering their home field to slow down opposing defenses when big back Marv Hubbard carried the ball.

Source: espn.com.