CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two local high school teams will enjoy a whole new experience during this Friday’s football games.
Both Sissonville High School and Riverside High School will play at home on newly-installed artificial turf. They are the first of the county’s high schools to have the surface installed.
Chuck Smith, executive director of facilities and plannning for Kanawha County Schools, said these two schools were selected to be first because playing conditions on site were so bad.
“They were horrible. Halfway through the season they became mud pits,” Smith explained “Just over time with wear and tear and use of the fields, the field just couldn’t take it.”
Kanawha County voters approved the purchase of the turf for the county school football fields, something Smith said was important for not only sports activities, but for the safety of children.
“All citizens of Kanawha County benefit from this and we thought it was imperative that all students get a share of it. They’re all equal in our eyes,” he said.
“The studies we’ve seen show the injury rate on a turf field is much less than it is on a grass field.”
Now that the work is completed at Sissonville and Riverside, attention will turn next to five other schools in the county.
Installation comes next for Nitro, St. Albans, George Washinggton, and South Charleston in that order.
Those will be installed starting in the spring and will be ready for next fall.
Since Capital plays at Laidley Field, their school will get a soccer field on the campus turfed, if the funding remains available.
Herbert Hoover will get a turf field once the new school is built.
Smith said the new campus will include a new sports stadium in Elkview to replace Joe Tolley Field at Hanging Rock.
The county cut a good deal with the company which is installing the turf, according to Smith.
“We’ve got a 12-year warranty on this thing and typically they are only warranted for 10, plus we’ve got a maintenance agreement in place,” he said.