This past Saturday, I took my youngest to his soccer game. The first thing I noticed, after the fact that it was unseasonably warm, was the condition of the playing field. The grass was brown and crunchy, and the soil was dry, hard, and cracked.
So what does this have to do with field safety? The less dense and lush the turf is, the dryer the soil, the harder the playing surface. Below is a link to information provided by the Sports Turf Managers Association, on the technical aspects of field hardness. But as you can imagine, the harder the surface, the greater chance for an athlete to be injured. .
The importance of irrigating and maintaining a correct soil moisture level goes beyond athletic field aesthetics. Several years ago, I was working with a public school system in Maryland. They were working towards irrigating all their athletic fields. I asked the man leading the charge, how he was able to convince the school district to go forward with such an investment? Not because I did not see value in the project, but it is not what is common practice in our area. He proceeded to tell me that he feels as the school district's athletic fields are outdoor classrooms. Athletic events and PE classes are held daily on the fields. Would you allow your child to practice in a gymnasium with cracked floors, or sit in a class room with holes in the wall!? Well said!
http://www.stma.org/sites/stma/files/STMA_Bulletins/Field_Hardness%20FINAL.pdf
