Pragmatism trumps passion for many Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»amateur athletic leagues when it comes to playing on the city's synthetic turf fields, which withstand wet weather better than grass but lack the inimitable natural feel.
"As a soccer player myself, I'd rather play the game on grass," said Ruben Tremarco, the president of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Metro Soccer League.
"But our league is a winter league so when you get into nasty weather, I'd rather play the game on turf because Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»grass fields are not really prepared for the winter. As soon as it rains in the winter, the grass fields they get nasty, muddy and mostly they get closed."
Craig Woods, the executive director of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Ultimate League Society, emphasizes that the addition of new surfaces mean more playing time for all field sports.
"That said, good grass fields are better for ultimate. We would definitely not want the city to only install synturf from here on out," he wrote in an email to the Courier, noting his league supports the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Field Sports Federation in assuring artificial surfaces never cover quality grass fields and instead replace only low-grade, all-weather grass or gravel fields.
The technology of an artificial turf field has come a long way since the knee-shattering days of concrete overlaid with Astroturf. Injuries, which have presented a perpetual debate for synthetic surfaces, will never be eliminated from sport. "Injuries can occur on grass and synturf. They are just different," Woods pointed out.
For a list of pros and cons from Woods' point of view as an ultimate player, read my Jock and Jill column at vancourier.com/sports.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»has nine turf fields, which are made of synthetic grasslike blades sewn beneath layers of sand and plastic pellets that allow drainage and cushioning designed to replicate the natural stuff. Two new artificial fields officially opened last weekend at Trillium Park adjacent to the train station at the south edge of Strathcona.
The park board estimates each pitch will add an additional 2,000 yearly hours of play, thanks in part to lights that afford twilight and nighttime use.
The city spent $6 million building the two pitches and a field house, with some money coming from the federal Economic Action Plan.
The Metro Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Soccer League spends nearly $60,000 each year for 62 teams to access the city's fields, according to Tremarco. The majority of that bill-at least $45,000-is spent to use artificial turf fields.
Tremarco, a native of Argentina who says "ours is a soccer family," is critical of the fees, which outpace neighbouring municipalities such as Burnaby and North Vancouver.
"We are paying too much in Vancouver. We pay about $65 in Burnaby, more or less the same on the North Shore, and $105 per game [in Vancouver]," he said. "I've brought that up with the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»more than once, thinking it's too much charging what they do for turf fields."
On the North Shore, Tremarco said the metro men's league pays about $7,000 in field fees for 12 teams.
Twitter: @MHStewart
COST COMPARISON
In Vancouver, non-profit adult leagues pay $45.76 an hour and non-profit youth leagues $22.99 an hour to play on artificial turf. The best grass fields are free for youth and cost $7.37 to $13.62 per hour for adults.
Costs will rise this fall in Burnaby, where they are less for adult leagues as long as 60 per cent of players live or work in Burnaby. Teams that meet this quota pay $26.44 to $36.91 per hour to play on artificial turf, depending on the hour of day.
Adult organizations that don't meet the threshold pay $59.06 to $73.82 an hour, depending on the time of day. Grass and gravel pitches are free for youth and range from $5.63 to $14.80 for Burnaby adults. Rates are different for tournaments.
For Burnaby youth leagues composed of fewer than 60 per cent residential players, the fees for artificial turf nears Vancouver's adult rates at $36.91 to 44.30 per hour. Youth leagues that meet the threshold pay $8.40 an hour and grass is free of charge.
In North Vancouver, youth and adult community leagues pay $24 per hour to use artificial turf fields while non-profit organizations pay $34 hourly and commercial enterprises are charged $68 and hour. Use of grass and gravel pitches in North Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»ranges from $2.07 to $9.83.
MS
