Wire walker at Kings Island
Annual hot dog eating contest
Beavercreek 4th of July Parade
Expensive turf becomes trend at area high school stadiums
New surface means teams can practice on the field even in bad weather conditions
Friday, August 24, 2007
GERMANTOWN — You could call it "Turf Wars."
And it's heating up as more and more schools in the Dayton area are installing expensive synthetic surfaces.
Extras
Valley View High School unveils its new-age turf tonight in the Spartans' football opener against Thurgood Marshall (formerly Colonel White) at Barker Field in Germantown. Franklin and Springboro will take to their new turf for the first time on Sept. 7.
The turf at all three venues is called 24/7 and was purchased from The Motz Group in Cincinnati. It is designed to cushion the players and provide stability, and is guaranteed to take on foot traffic 24 hours a day.
The Franklin (Atrium Medical Center) and Springboro (Miami Valley Hospital) efforts were bolstered by selling naming rights. Valley View took a different route.
Valley View's christening is the culmination of a nine-month-long project. The state-of-the-art surface adds to the school's mystique (state football titles in 1994, '96 and '97).
The surface at Valley View costs $542,000. The "Field of Pride" project is $100,000 shy of meeting its financial goal. The Valley view Board of Education committed $100,000 and the athletic boosters pledged $100,000 while the rest is coming from private donors and pledges.
"We feel very fortunate to have a community that supports us and provides us with this awesome turf," Spartans quarterback Luke Donson said. "It's definitely motivational stepping on this field and it fires us up for the season."
His father, Greg, vice president of the Valley View Athletic Boosters, did a lot of research before his organization settled on The Motz Group, which also installed artificial turf at Franklin and Springboro this year. Price tag: $542,000.
"It developed into a neat little rivalry with Franklin once we heard that they were planning on installing turf," Greg Donson said with a smile. "We said in our meetings that 'We have to get ours done first' — in a good-natured way.
"It's been a collaboration of efforts to make this a reality — the administration, the school board, communities (Germantown and Farmersville) and the athletes."
Schools don't have to worry about the three M's — maintenance, mowing and mud.
Said Boro athletic director Steve Castator: "We were able to have uninterrupted football practice this week after the rain by having it on the turf. That's another advantage."
Franklin has joined the 'sports arms race' with a $1.2 million renovation of its stadium, now called Veterans Memorial Field at Atrium Stadium.
"The turf and the improvements have created so much excitement," said Franklin athletic director and football coach Rodney Roberts. "It's something we're proud of and our student-athletes deserve."
