Where do you train - turf or grass?

Dargle

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Does your child do club GK training primarily on grass or artificial turf fields? If the latter, does the club attempt to assign you to a field that no longer uses crumb rubber infill? I'm wondering whether concerns about cancer incidence in young GKs (primarily from a list compiled by a Univ Wash GK coach) have influenced clubs/coaches to take precautions even though no scientific study has yet been completed to establish the connection.
 
Grass. Our primary fields are grass and Club Keeper training is on grass fields. Private training is grass as well. The occasional team practices are on a turf crumb rubber college stadium field, and a turf cork field are periodically part of the rotation. We try to stay off turf as much as possible, especially during the summer due to heat.
 
Now her club trains exclusively on grass. She still does privates where she is on turf, and did a lot of sessions in the past on turf with prior clubs.

I had a client that installs artificial turf for a lot of schools (ironically, including re-turfing 2 fields that my daughter trains on), I asked him about the concerns over turf. He and his kids were soccer players, and he told me that he would let his kids play on turf. Zero concerns for him. When he had a contract that requires an organic (mineral I think) fill instead of rubber it simply increased the cost but made no difference in safety.

If our kid had a sensitivity to it I am sure we would approach it differently, but she seems fine. Without looking it up I would guess that the kids are more at risk riding in cars than playing on turf. Good luck to you and your kid.
 
Local high school redid their turf field with crushed coconut shell infill. Looks reddish from a distance instead of black.
 
Grass for us. I've heard beach training is highly effective. Less wear and tear on your kids knees and hips. I know she loves playing keeper at the beach during sand soccer.
 
Local high school redid their turf field with crushed coconut shell infill. Looks reddish from a distance instead of black.
And, Poway high school turf field is definitely cooler with the coconut infill then it was with the black rubber.
 
My concern isn't as much about the cancer link as the injury rate on artificial turf is much higher and many artificial turf fields are unsafe from a G-Max perspective. That said, I would rather have the kid diving on a relatively new artificial turf field than a crappy compacted grass field, but a good grass field that is taken care of (aerated, shock-waved, reel mowed, rotated, etc.) will be better than everything.
 
My son came home from GK training on grass yesterday all cut up. Apparently not all grass fields are created equally.
Right?! My daughter is diving on dirt patches with a blade or 2 of real grass. I have her padded up from head to toe even in the heat. I am ready to send my glove bill to the school district.
 
Now her club trains exclusively on grass. She still does privates where she is on turf, and did a lot of sessions in the past on turf with prior clubs.

I had a client that installs artificial turf for a lot of schools (ironically, including re-turfing 2 fields that my daughter trains on), I asked him about the concerns over turf. He and his kids were soccer players, and he told me that he would let his kids play on turf. Zero concerns for him. When he had a contract that requires an organic (mineral I think) fill instead of rubber it simply increased the cost but made no difference in safety.

If our kid had a sensitivity to it I am sure we would approach it differently, but she seems fine. Without looking it up I would guess that the kids are more at risk riding in cars than playing on turf. Good luck to you and your kid.
I'm sure the guy installing ground up tires as turf fill (a material so safe it's illegal to put them in the landfill), is a research oncologist.
 
@Technician72 . What is it you don't like about cork?

I have refereed many games on the cork/coconut husk infill fields and they are cooler, nice to run on and don’t hang onto the cleats like black rubber. I have also not seen any turf related injuries. I have seen a bunch of turf related injuries on the black rubber mainly because the cleats don’t release causing excess stress on the knee or ankle causing Ligas, tendons or muscles to tear.
 
Most serious artificial turf injuries are related to two factors (1) older fields that have become compressed and/or lost too much infill creating hard fields with GMax rating over 150+ (100 or less is the standard) and no shockpad (typically FieldTurf) and (2) increased friction creating greater torque related injuries. ACL injuries with NFL players are 63% higher on artificial turf, although the jury is out regarding soccer players. We are also now using what is referred to as 3rd generation turf fields.

The biggest problem with Art. Turf is the belief by the owners that Art. Turf Fields are relatively maintenance free and will perform similarly as when new for the life of the product. Its actually a massive miscalculation by most school districts. The cost to install a new field is now upwards of about $1.5 to $2M and it needs to be replaced about every 7 years because it simply cannot be properly reconditioned due to fiber breakdown/loss (2/12 inches become 2 inches or less). These fields break down even faster because the owners don't maintain them properly (brush, aerate (2-3 times per year ... yes, AT needs to be aerated with special equip. to prevent compaction) exchange infill, groom, UV sanitizing, etc.).

When you factor in all of the costs associated with maintaining a premium bermuda grass field v. an artificial turf field that is properly maintained, the grass field wins every time and on overage will be more than 65F cooler than the Artificial Turf field, which reaches150 to 170 degrees in the summer.

And the bonus is a single grass soccer/football field produces enough oxygen for about 150 people.
 
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