How to Choose the Best Turf for Your Soccer Field

Choosing turf for your soccer field can be challenging if you don’t know what to look for. The different types of turf provide various benefits and drawbacks. It’s best to analyze the usage of your field to determine whether natural or synthetic turf would work better for your soccer program.

1. Prioritize Safety

Since players will be on the field constantly, you should consider what grass would be best for them. You need to know which turf has the least slip and can prevent injuries. Synthetic turf may be slicker than natural turf, particularly when it’s wet, but it may also have more of a spring to it that allows players to stand up as soon as they’re knocked down, provided they aren’t injured.

You should also look at the average weather where you’re located. While peak soccer months are usually between September and November, plenty of people play soccer year-round, whether competitively or recreationally. In sweltering temperatures, with low-quality synthetic turf, you may find that it could melt and cause a danger to players that slide or fall on it.

2. Know Your Grass Types

Know which types of grass are best for sports fields. You want something that stands up to the wear and tear of multiple matches. Coaches should push for turf that reflects which tolerances they need — whether shade or drought, insects or color retention. 

Some natural turfs, like perennial ryegrass, can grow to where you need it in just a couple of weeks. If you’re looking to have a soccer field fast, choose synthetic turf or a natural kind that grows well in any season. Artificial turf doesn’t need time to grow, but it isn’t your only option for a field if you need one fast. Keep in mind that all-natural fertilizers or other procedures could have your turf growing faster.

3. Understand Usage

Some professional players claim their careers could have been extended by 25% if they had played more frequently on the right turf, which can be gentler to people who fall. Regular ground isn’t always supportive of soccer players and can lead to even worse aches and injuries. Understand what your players want most out of their soccer field to help you make the best decision for them as a coach.

Coaches should also consider the months when people will play soccer on the field. If players are kicking the ball year-round, consider a turf that will cushion a player’s fall. In the colder months, ankles and similar joints are more prone to stress fractures, so it’s vital that players and coaches alike understand the weather and how it may affect their turf.

4. Think About Upkeep

What kind of maintenance plan do you need to make to keep your turf in order? While synthetic turf may be more costly upfront, it doesn’t require as much maintenance as natural turf. As such, the cost of care might be worth avoiding if it means initially paying more for a synthetic turf that requires less upkeep time.

The top-quality soccer fields are often mowed frequently alongside extra seeding and fertilizing. Someone will have to do the work to keep a natural turf’s quality where it needs to be, and the responsibilities are a great deal more challenging than they seem. Between April and October, natural turf should be mowed at least twice a week, though less mowing is required in the winter months.

5. Know the Environmental Impact

When you think about maintenance for natural grass turf, you have to consider that some may not be great for the environment. Synthetic turf has its drawbacks, but it might be better for the environment overall. With the emissions released by lawn equipment and non-eco-friendly fertilizers, having artificial turf on for your soccer field doesn’t seem to be too bad. 

Since synthetic turf doesn’t need to be irrigated, you also conserve water and can potentially save money on those bills. Still, manufactured materials like rubber pellets live in synthetic turf and can easily be uprooted by any player. Eventually, someone will need to replace these rubber pellets in the synthetic turf to keep it spongy and safe.

Which Turf Is Best?

As with most choices, making a list of pros and cons can help you decide which turf would be best for your team to play on. You won’t be able to find one superior type of turf — it all depends on how you’ll use it and how often people will play on it.

Would your team benefit more from synthetic turf, which requires less upkeep and might be better for the environment, yet risks hurting players in the heat? Does your team like the idea of natural turf better despite the hours someone will have to spend on maintaining it throughout the year? Whichever you choose, understand that each type of turf requires different, special care.