A revolutionary type of athletic playing surface has passed the one year mark at Jeffco’s Lakewood Memorial Field with flying colors.
A fierce back and forth battle between the D’Evelyn Jaguars and Centaurus Warriors recently happened at Lakewood Memorial field, but this story is not about the varsity soccer match. It’s about the grass beneath their cleats. This isn’t just any grass. This is called Xtra Grass, and it’s the first of its kind in the nation.
“What makes it unique is [that] it is a natural field reinforced by synthetic fibers. It’s very similar to a lot of fields throughout the nation that have a similar synthetic support system, but what differs from this is the way it’s laid,” explained Lakewood Memorial Field Manager Chris Gray.
Other fields that use synthetics have the fibers stitched into them about eight inches deep. This field was installed in a way that merged artificial and natural into one.
“It’s laid down just like an artificial field, similar to how carpet is laid and there’s only about 50 percent fiber coverage. Instead of filling the infill artificially with rubber, you fill it with sand, and you plant your grass seed right into that,” said Gray.
After a few months, about 50 percent of the backing of the artificial actually decomposes. This allows the root system of the natural grass to penetrate that artificial backing and wrap around the artificial fibers to stabilize it.
This hybrid field isn’t designed to cut down on watering, aerating, or mowing. Instead, it’s built for long-term wear and frequent use. Since the field’s installation, Gray and his crew have had more than a year’s worth of experience to measure and track how Xtra Grass is holding up to what high school soccer players and others have dished out.
“It’s everything we wanted it to be. I was very impressed,” he said.
Gray is hoping to see this high-tech turf installed at other Jeffco facilities, but only after evaluating trial runs at Lakewood Memorial. One thing seems clear, however. Nobody playing on the field or rooting in the stands seems to know the difference.
“You’ll see it fools a lot of players and even spectators [who will] go down there and they try to find the artificial fibers when actually what you see is a full natural field,” said Gray. “The artificial fibers are usually about three quarters of an inch below the surface of the grass. So everything you see right now is natural, but the artificial is there.”
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.