The University of Redlands and Bulldog Athletics are excited to announce that the renovation of the football practice field that is located between Ted Runner Stadium and The Yard (baseball field) is now complete. With the addition of this state-of-the-art facility, Redlands becomes the first NCAA Division III institution to utilize FieldTurf® Revolution with CoolPlay Technology.
This cutting-edge cooling technology has been laboratory tested to decrease the surface temperature of the synthetic field-space by up to 35 degrees, as compared to regular turf fields. This crucial factor bodes well for the liberal arts institution that is located between Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
“We have taken every step in the synthetic field surface industry that is available to us at this time to mitigate the heat challenges of our location,” stated Director of Athletics Jeff Martinez.
As of the project’s ground-breaking earlier this summer, Redlands was one of three California facilities to receive this type of installation this year and joins various NCAA Division I football teams that have already made the switch to CoolPlay. Among others, the Bulldogs now are in the company of the University of Arizona and the University of Nebraska.
“For Bulldog Athletics, this is a huge improvement. It gives us the best of both worlds, with fantastic natural grass surfaces for competition, but also the top-of-the-line, newest synthetic surface available to our programs for training and practicing,” commented Martinez.
Byrom-Davey, Inc completed the installation of the new field on Friday, which was just in time for the arrival of six of the Bulldogs’ fall sport teams.
Fans may view a photo timeline of the project at http://goredlands.com/Inside_Athletics/Facilities/Practice_Field_Reno.
Redlands’ FieldTurf® facility, which is shared between Bulldog Athletics, intramurals, and recreation sports, includes permanent lines for both football and soccer, as well as basic markings for men’s and women’s lacrosse and ultimate Frisbee.
“The synthetic turf means that the field can withstand more use and does not have to lie fallow to recover during football's off-season,” stated Faculty Athletic Representative Les Canterbury, who also serves as an advisor to Redlands’ Ultimate Frisbee Club. “It's also very cool that the new field has markings for ultimate on it! We may be the first school in the country with a field that has markings for ultimate!”
Furthermore, this renovation included the installation of additional Musco® lighting on the east side of the facility, with the original lights being re-lamped for efficiency and brightness.
For more information about FieldTurf® with CoolPlay, please visit the company’s web page at http://www.fieldturf.com/en/home.