RIPON – While the project itself is still in the conceptual phase, Ripon Community Athletic Foundation Design Coordinator Keith Anderson is lobbying hard for the installation of artificial surfaces for both the turf and the track at Ripon High’s Stouffer Field.
And he knows a thing or two about how the weather can severely impact the sports programs that utilize those facilities.
As a volunteer track coach for Ripon High School for the last eight years, Anderson has witnessed the deterioration of the track surface after just a single rainstorm – at times becoming so severe that they have to abandon use altogether.
Conditions on the field, he says, are just as bad when the weather isn’t cooperative.
“For the amount of use that field gets, it really isn’t practical to use turf,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people, and I’m one of them, that prefer natural grass. But in this case I think that that an artificial surface would be the way to go because it can withstand the use that this community puts on it.”
Things have also come a long way since artificial surfaces were first introduced for teams that either play in rugged conditions or inside of the confines of a dome.
Where initial artificial turf – like name-brand Astroturf – started off as a thick layer of carpet over a hard cement floor, the approach has since been to re-create the forgiving nature of natural grass without the necessary maintenance and upkeep.
Individual synthetic blades of grass are used and are filled in with silica and rubber to provide the give that products like Astroturf never had – a factor that caused many athletes to suffer debilitating injuries to their knees, ankles and hips.
“Today it has much more of a natural feel, and sometimes you can’t even tell when you walk onto it that it’s not grass,” Anderson said. “To just reinstall natural grass a Stouffer field would be a wasted opportunity and a wasted investment.”
The RCAF was dealt a blow several weeks ago when the Ripon Redevelopment Committee – comprised of the five sitting members of the Ripon City Council – decided to use redevelopment money to build-out the four softball diamonds that were originally planned for Mistlin Park.
Executive Director Stephanie Hobbs had been lobbying the city to help finance the program through redevelopment – something the City of Turlock did in order to complete the renovations to their aging stadium.
“While the softball fields would be an asset to our (non-public) regional facility out at Mistlin Park, we believe Stouffer Field is a much more urgent community project that is used every day by Riponites,” Hobbs said. “It is time to regroup and resolve to get this project done for the good of Ripon.”
For more information about the Ripon Community Athletic Fund, or the projects currently under way to raise money for the proposed overhaul, visit the organizations web-site at www.rcafsite.org.
