Many Area High Schools Switching to Artificial Turf

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) It seems like grass fields may go the way of the straight-on kicker in high school football.
More and more schools are switching to artificial turf, even though it comes with a high, up-front cost.
Soddy Daisy, Ooltewah, and Howard were three schools who added turf this season.

Reporter:”Is it surprising in high school football how many games you play on artificial turf?”
Said McCallie coach Joel Bradford:”I would say it’s surprising if you see a grass field. Personally I love the grass. It’s just natural. I think the turf just helps out for the long term investment for the school”.
Once the sticker shock of the price of turf wears off, it feels pretty nice.
Said Gordon Lee coach Josh Groce:”Now in the summer it’s a little interesting because it’s smoking hot. Now this time of year it’s huge to have turf.”
Turf seems to stand up better against Mother Nature.
Said Soddy Daisy coach Josh Owensby:”We practiced every day this week. If it wasn’t for turf, this may have been our first day out. We’ve probably had five or six inches of rain the last two days. We have not missed a day of practice.”
Said Chattooga coach Roone Gable:”Even if it is pouring down rain during the game, the playing surface will be fine. It goes back to being able to hold onto the ball. Ball security. Some places we’ve been where you are on grass and with the rain we have had. The field conditions will be a bad problem on Friday night.”
Red Bank coach Ted Gatewood and East Hamilton coach Aaron Nance still have grass fields, which means plenty of maintenance.
Said Gatewood:”I’ll cut a field all day long. But painting it. That’s a different story. We have a really great paint crew here, but it is difficult.”
Said Nance:”You know a bucket of paint is dang near $100 to paint a field. The man hours of mowing between myself, and we’ve got dads in our program that volunteer their time for free to come up here and mow a field. I love playing on a good, grass field just as much as I love turf. But the turf takes a lot of man hours and resources from your program and puts it back in there.”