Marshall University Athletics
Joan C. Edwards Stadium to Feature FieldTurf
6/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Joan C. Edwards Stadium to Feature FieldTurf
6/15/2005
HUNTINGTON -- Preparation for the installation of a FieldTurf playing surface at Marshall University?s Joan C. Edwards Stadium is on schedule and the new FieldTurf will be in place prior to the Thundering Herd reporting for football camp this August. The FieldTurf will make its official debut when Marshall hosts William & Mary in the season-opener on September 1 and provide the Thundering Herd with the premier synthetic playing surface in college football.
FieldTurf is currently in use in more than 30 NCAA Division 1-A football stadiums including Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Kansas State, Boston College, Louisville and Missouri.
?We are extremely pleased to be enhancing our facilities with what I believe is the best playing surface on the market,? said Marshall Head Football Coach Mark Snyder. ?Our staff, our players and our fans are all looking forward to the new FieldTurf field at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.?
?Marshall has built one of the most consistently successful football programs in the country, and it is truly our pleasure to have this new association with the Thundering Herd,? said FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. ?Several other schools in Conference USA play their home games on FieldTurf, including Louisville, Memphis and Tulsa, and we?re thrilled to be able to add Marshall to that list. I want to extend my thanks to Bob Marcum and to Coach (Mark) Snyder for the confidence that they have shown in our product, which has been established as the finest artificial surface in the world. When the Thundering Herd runs out on their new FieldTurf for that first game against William & Mary, I am confident that the players, coaches and fans will love what they see.?
Joan C. Edwards Stadium opened in 1991 and has a current seating capacity of 38,016. It has been the site of multiple Mid-American Conference title games, and also hosted the NCAA Division 1-AA national championship game from 1991-96. The new FieldTurf replaces an Astroturf surface that had been in place since 1998.
Crews have already removed the old surface at Joan C. Edwards Stadium and have started preparing the ground for the installation of the new FieldTurf. The total cost of the project is $855,000.
In addition to its growing popularity in the college ranks, FieldTurf has already established itself as the turf of choice in the National Football League. Twenty-two of the NFL?s 32 teams currently use FieldTurf at their stadiums and/or their practice facilities. Also, three Major League Baseball teams are using FieldTurf at their stadiums in 2005. FieldTurf was also the first artificial turf product approved by FIFA (soccer?s world governing body) for World Cup play.
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of all NFL players who were asked to rank the league?s 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, such as playability, safety, etc. The NFL players ranked FieldTurf fifth out of 32, and amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 15 of the league?s 19 natural grass fields.
FieldTurf is the result of years of research - evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass. Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion - allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.
