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Sports field use in our modern society is a function of the attention given to recreation, organized sports, and physical fitness. The owner, user, and spectator each have expectations of facility performance.
Sports fields are built with widely varied resources, but those that are well designed and constructed, and that are also well maintained, are likely to provide optimum performance in the parameters of safety, playability, aesthetics, and durability.
Sports field demands are basic to ownership expectations and, thus, determine the ownership values. The demands and expectations determine the degree of maintenance intensity required with the associated expenditures for the development of a maintenance program.
Sports fields can be segregated into four levels of quality and performance expectations: Premium, Choice, Standard, and Play decreasing in traffic tolerance respectively.
Premium fields have high visibility and as such are expected to be of very high quality. They typically would have high traffic from sports and events.
Management intensity would be very high to meet the expectations. These fields would generally support major professional league and major college sports teams.
Choice sports fields have high visibility in a community and high quality would be expected. These fields would generally support minor league professional, college, and high school sports teams. Local school stadiums are faced with community pressures for access to the field.
Optimum care of a Choice level sports field includes enough fertilizer applied as needed to meet the performance expectation, timely uniform irrigation, mowing, aeration, topdressing, rolling, overseeding, and repair of traffic injury. A high traffic level results from actual use of approximately 18 game-time hours of soccer/week or 12 game-time hours of youth football/week or 30 game-time hours of baseball/week.
Standard sports fields may have high community visibility with moderate quality expectations. These fields typically have very high traffic from a community college and several high school sports teams as well as practice fields at all levels, including professional, college, and high school. Resource input is restricted with moderate management intensity. For a minimum investment the performance expectation of actual use would be approximately 10 game-time hours of soccer/week or 6 game-time hours of youth football/week or 20 game-time hours of baseball/week and can be met with the minimum input on a field built on at least a loam soil and with reasonable drainage. It is not unusual for traffic levels on Standard fields to far exceed this.
Play fields are park and school fields with very high traffic. Quality is low due to restricted resource input resulting in low management intensity.
The performance of sports fields is judged against the expectations of the interested parties. The parameters of sports field performance are safety, playability, aesthetics, and durability.
Overused fields are not necessarily abused fields. Overuse shows up as turf worn through primarily in traffic patterns, which may become muddy or hard playing surface. Field abuse shows up as ruts, holes, dead patches, irrigation patterns, pathways, and muddy or hard playing surface. Fields of all levels of performance expectations can be completely worn out. Even the finest, most durable surfaces, including roads, have traffic limits beyond which they fail. Field abuse is less excusable.
The maintenance practices that are fundamental to sports turf culture are:
As traffic levels increase it is sometimes possible to push turf growth to meet the demand. Knowledge of the cultural practices can be useful in extending or increasing field performance.
Mowing is not only necessary it can be a useful tool for the sports turf manager who is trying to get the most out of a field. Decisions must be made as to what is most important. Raising the height of cut increases the traffic tolerance while reducing turf density and speed.
The optimum mowing height range is determined to be where the performance of that grass as a turf is greatest, with topgrowth, root development, and plant density.
Traffic on turf adds a significant stress and increases the impact of the other stresses. The traffic minimum mowing height is that point at which traffic tolerance decreases dramatically and below which the turf will likely fail.
Mowing frequency is determined by the growth rate. Removal of more than 40 percent of the top in a single clipping completely stops root growth for a period of time. The larger percentage of foliage removed, the longer the root growth remains stopped.
Maximum wear tolerance and recuperative ability requires optimum irrigation and good drainage.
On sports fields the art of irrigation is as important as the science considering the knowledge of the ?EUR??,,????'??hot?EUR??,,????'?? spots, wet spots, runoff, wind, shade, etc. and what to do about them.
Regular scheduling of irrigation is often impractical for heavily used turf facilities during the periods of activities. The rule of thumb is to apply water when and where the turf needs it, even by hand if necessary and around the activities on the field.
Syringing is an important irrigation management tool that cools the grass and the environment around the grass blades. It slows wilt and increases the turgidity of grass blades causing them to stand up. It perks up the grass. Syringing immediately after a game or an event can contribute significantly to turf recovery, particularly if covered.
Most high traffic turfgrass failures are directly related to inadequate drainage. Poorly drained sports fields wear excessively and quickly lose playability and quality.
Surfactants applied to wet spots in a sports field can temporarily increase drainage, which reduces the effects of field softness and poor traction. Dry hard spots can sometimes be relieved with surfactants.
The performance of many sports fields would be significantly improved simply by applying nitrogen fertilizer. Optimum wear tolerance of cool-season grasses is usually at about an application rate of 1.0 lb.N/1000 sq.ft./mo. of growing season.
Premium fields that have high visibility and high play should have at least 8 lb. N/1000 sq.ft./year. Choice fields where reasonable quality is desired that are subject to relatively high traffic warm-season grasses should have at least 6 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft./year and cool-season grasses should have at least 5 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft./year. Standard fields should receive 3-4 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft./year. Play fields should receive at least 2 lbs. N/1000 sq.ft./year just to keep some grass on the surface.
Phosphorus (P) used by plants in relatively high quantities is slowly soluble in most forms resisting leaching though, it can become unavailable to the plant if the soil pH gets too high or too low. P deficient turf is stunted and may show a red color beginning at the leaf tips. On cool and warm-season turfgrasses, phosphorus is applied at the rate of 0.5 ?EUR??,,????'??? 1.0 lbs. P2O5/1000 sq.ft./yr.
Potassium (K) improves turfgrass wear tolerance, disease tolerance and aesthetic quality. Potassium increases the number of new rhizomes and increases their life span. Keeping the K in balance with the N will produce a tougher sports turf on any kind of grass. The use of K at 2-4 lbs. K2O/1000 sq.ft./year irrespective of the N and P status reduces the water stress in turf and increases recovery from drought.
Even the finest, most durable surfaces, including roads, have traffic limits beyond which they fail. Field abuse is less excusable.
Turf density and recovery from injury are functions of the vigor and efficiency of the roots, rhizomes, and tillers. An application of P, particularly with N, each at 1.0 lb./1000 sq.ft, often increases root growth.
Diseases are less serious when a moderate and balanced level of N, P, and K is maintained in the root zone. When N is high in relation to P and K, there may be disease trouble particularly in hot weather. A high level of K helps reduce injury from some common turf diseases.
While soluble materials (urea or ammonium sulfate) pose a higher risk, all fertilizers represent a risk of burning the turf. Soluble fertilizers should not be applied when temperatures are high (e.g. above 95????? F), particularly with high humidity. If it is necessary to apply the material under these conditions it is very important to water-in the material within a few minutes of the application. It is still probable that tire tracks and footprints will show up as burns. Application of soluble fertilizer within a week of a big game is an unacceptable risk, particularly in hot weather.
If the field is to be covered for an event or rain protection it should not be fertilized within a week of the covering, because free ammonia released from the fertilizer trapped under the cover will burn the grass.
The mechanical pressure applied by sports traffic, especially cleated shoe traffic, results in varying degrees of soil compaction and surface sealing.
Core cultivation can be performed with a drum aerator using open and hollow tines or by a vertically operated hollow tine aerator. Solid tines are used to shatter the soil below the surface and the process is known as shatter coring.
Spiking and slicing are effective to increase infiltration and reduce surface crusting. Water jets open holes using small diameter streams under very high pressure. They are very effective and clean with very little disturbance of the surface.
A heavy, flat, steel roller is effective in smoothing the field and improving turf quality. It can be used to relieve frost heaving and foot printing. Rolling can be used to correct what runners, such as soccer players, feel as a loose field. It can also be used to increase the speed of an infield or football field. Rolling is also intense traffic and has a cost in wear and compaction. Core cultivation is an important associated program. Moisture level is critical in successful use of the roller. Soil that is too dry is hard and does not respond to rolling. The walls of the cores in soil that is too wet seal and the operation is much less effective.
Repair of sports fields must be an ongoing program to maintain turf quality and is more significant on overused surfaces. The traffic patterns are guidelines as to repair. In baseball outfielders tend to stand in a small area, which localizes cleat injury. Other areas commonly damaged include the over-run at first base, the front of the pitcher?EUR??,,????'???s mound, and the paths to and from the mound and home plate. The area around the pre-game batting practice cage is another frequent wear area.
Football traffic injury is most significant in the field center, between the 40-yard lines and the hash marks. The areas where the coaches and players stand also wear significantly. Soccer injury is severe in the center of the field and around the goalmouth. Linesmen run over a narrow path along the sidelines wearing it down.
Sodding may be a quick, simple solution to repair of sports field damage.
Thick cut sod is used if there is little time for rooting and can allow play the same day. If the soil temperatures are warm, thin cut sod can be ready for play in 3 to 4 weeks. Apply 1 lb. N/1000 sq.ft. of a fertilizer high in N and P such as 6.25 lbs of 16-20-0 or 15-15-15/1000 sq.ft. The tough decision is often where to draw the line around the turf to be replaced. It is generally preferable to take out all of the damaged turf to match new turf to old turf without a worn zone in between, especially using the same species and cultivar when possible.
Overseeding can be used as a less expensive and less disruptive operation though it requires a longer window between activities. Annual and perennial ryegrasses are good for overseeding because they germinate in a few days and grow fast. Tall fescue is sometimes recommended for overseeding, but it takes 2-3 weeks to germinate and another 3-4 weeks to provide cover.
Bermudagrass and Kentucky bluegrass are slow to germinate and are not good grasses to use for overseeding for repair. Overseed at the rate of 10 to 15 lbs/1000 sq,ft, of ryegrass or tall fescue. A requirement with overseeding is the need to keep the seed moist.
Divoting and tearing usually requires replacement of the turf as spot repair with sod. The sod should be thick cut and be as close to the color and texture of the surrounding turf as possible. Another patching technique is to mix sand and perennial ryegrass seed, which can be poured into the divots. Unless the turf is the same species it will be a patchwork appearance.
About Stephen Cockerham?EUR??,,????'??+Stephen T. Cockerham is Superintendent of Agricultural Operations at the University of California, Riverside. Mr. Cockerham was consultant to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Committee with responsibility for the Los Angeles Coliseum and the Rose Bowl; Coordinator for Turf for the nine venues (Cotton Bowl, Dallas; Citrus Bowl, Orlando; RFK Stadium, Washington; Giants Stadium, the Meadowlands, New York; Foxboro Stadium, Boston; Soldiers Field, Chicago; Pontiac Superdome, Detroit; Stanford Stadium, San Francisco; and Rose Bowl) of the 1994 World Cup of Soccer; and Research Team Leader for the development of the first turf grass playing field for a retractable roof stadium for Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix.
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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