|
Turf care for soccer fields
 By Samantha Cain
 Drive through any Indiana community in the spring or fall, and chances are pretty good that you'll see kids playing soccerfrom the pint-sized pre-schoolers who barely fit in their shin guards to highly competitive high school athletes.
But while the sport is enjoying nearly unprecedented popularity, soccer fields statewide are suffering the ill effects of overuse.
"Soccer fields are not receiving the amount of care and maintenance that they need," says Zac Reicher, Purdue Extension specialist in turfgrass. "Many people think the care of a soccer field is the same as for a lawn or maybe a football field, but actually, the maintenance schedule is quite different."
Lawns generally receive little traffic, and most football fields receive heavy use once per weekend for about three months out of the year. In comparison, a soccer field is used anywhere from two to eight times per week for about seven months every year. This causes problems because the grass does not have the chance to grow and repair itself.
Often, soccer field maintenance occurs after the field has turned into a muddy mess, Reicher says. Then, it is re-seeded or re-sodded to replace destroyed grass. As an alternative, Reicher promotes field rotation as one of the best methods for soccer field maintenance.
"If more than one field is available for use, I like to see fields placed on a rotation schedule," says Reicher. "A field should be taken out of play for about three growing months every two to three years, if not more often, to maintain its overall health and appearance."
|
