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Moncton beats clock to have fields soccer-ready

Often is the case when an individual does his best work when faced with the pressure of a deadline. Such was the circumstance in Moncton, N.B., last summer when four natural turf soccer fields needed to be whipped into shape in time for the Canadian Under 14 Soccer Championships played in October.

Gord Horsman, caretaker at Moncton’s CN Sportsplexe, site of the quartet of natural fields, said the playing surfaces were in dismal shape at the end of the 2015 season and were far from being in tournament condition when officials from Soccer Canada visited the city in mid-June.

“They had absolutely been beaten to death,” Horsman said, adding Field 3–the only one of the four equipped with lights–had been subjected to upwards of 800 hours of play from football, rugby and soccer heading into the new season. “It just got
beat to pieces.”

A senior official from Soccer Canada–the governing body for the championships–expressed grave concern that Horsman and his staff would be hard-pressed to have the fields ready in time for the tournament.

Conferring with his own limited staff and other city officials, Horsman said the only way he could address the issues related to Field 3 was to till the field under and start over. He hired Turf Masters, a contractor from Nova Scotia, to till the field as best as possible with a Blecavator, a British-manufactured machine that cultivates the ground by digging down between 10 and 18 centimetres, lifting and screening stones and other debris, burying the lifted material, raking the ground level, and compacting the soil with a rear packing roller.

The leveled field resembled “a parking lot” during the Soccer Canada visit in mid-June, Horsman said.

Field 3 was then seeded with a 70-30 mix of Kentucky bluegrass/perennial ryegrass at a rate of 250 pounds per acre. Along with the other three fields, it was fertilized and aerated with time ticking away until the start of the Canadian championships.

’Moving’ fields provides flexibility
An advantage of dealing with the other three fields was the flexibility they afforded in being “moved.” The permanent light fixtures on Field 3 allowed no such shifting, but the other sites provided some flexibility.

“With Fields 1 and 2, for example, there was enough space to give me the ability to jog the field way down to the east, and a month before the tournament I brought the nets and everything over to the west, away from all the wear areas.”

“Shifting” Fields 1, 2 and 4 allowed previous wear areas to be barely in play for the tournament’s regulation games.

“We were very limited with our space, so I had to pull a rabbit out of my hat because moving three soccer fields and getting them bang on with just a measuring tape has its challenges.”

To save both time and effort, Horsman asked a surveyor friend if he could help put in corners and points for the fields. Grade sticks were placed in each corner, penalty kick, and goalmouth and goal box areas using global positioning system (GPS) technology. Horsman said properly aligning the penalty kick areas was particularly challenging, but using GPS technology allowed measurements to come within three-quarters of an inch
in accuracy.

“What we did in three or four days would have taken me at least a week,” Horsman said of using a measuring tape as an alternative.

He said it was especially time consuming to move the fields into areas where there was no wear and have everything line up.

“You can well imagine what it would have been like with a measuring tape, trying to get these things squared.”

The city has “tinkered” with GPS in the past, he said, but mostly for grades and elevations on baseball diamonds. Adopting the technology for the pre-tournament soccer field preparations was something that came to mind suddenly. While Horsman placed grade stakes, his crew was right behind with string and paint.

“When Soccer Canada came to town, they couldn’t believe their eyes.”

An official with the organization told Horsman at the time of the tournament he was “concerned” during his June visit, skeptical the field preparation work wouldn’t be accomplished in time and to Soccer Canada’s specifications. For their efforts, Horsman and his crew were presented an award of merit in January from Soccer New Brunswick, the provincial arm of Soccer Canada.

Soccer Canada feared Horsman and his staff wouldn’t have the required turf density established at the fields in time for the tournament. Determined to reach his goal, Horsman aerated three or four times prior to the event, coring with three-quarter-inch hollow tines.

“The density was fantastic. It just grew in like you wouldn’t believe.”

Aerating, fertilizing assure consistency
Horsman attributed the turf density to the amount of aerating and fertilizing done.

In the end, all four fields were consistent. Each is sand-based and irrigated. Although they are not constructed with USGA sand, they are “very, very close to USGA,” Horsman said, adding they drain at 12 inches an hour.

“We have a very good, consistent product to work with which makes my job a lot easier.”

Ten or 11 tractor-trailer loads of sand were used to level the fields and get them consistent.

“I don’t fool around with sand anymore. We have good sand fields and don’t want to mess them up.”

Horsman said he has used inferior quality sand in the past and had bad experiences. Not wanting to take any chances, he opted for the better quality, albeit expensive, sand.

Bad weather wasn’t an issue during the tournament week, but one of the biggest challenges Horsman faced was addressing the wear areas of the fields that were still in play. It meant resodding the affected areas “which made me a little nervous.” Most of the worn areas were confined to the goalmouths.

Turf Masters was called in again to look after the sod work.

“They came in with their crew and laid the sod… bang, bang, bang. They were done in a day with all the goalmouths. That was the biggest concern. Do I have enough time to make the grass grow or do I just dig it up and sod it?”

A decision was made to pursue the latter approach.

Soccer Canada dictated the mowing height for the fields during competition. Horsman no longer has any reel mowers in his fleet of equipment yet achieved a desired 1½ inches using rotary mowers.

“They were very happy with an inch and a half.”

Each of the four fields at the CN Sportsplexe measured 60 metres by 100 metres and shared consistent turf density. Also used during the Thursday-to-Monday competition were the city’s artificial fields as well as the stadium field at the University of Moncton where the finals were played.

Divot mix covers imperfections
Three to four games per field were played each day of the tournament. Buckets of divot mix featuring dyed green sand were placed at each bench. If a divot was spotted that wasn’t to the liking of the game referee, the sand-seed mix was used to cover the imperfection.

Among the feedback Horsman received from a Soccer Canada official was that the Moncton fields were some of the best he experienced in 25 years.

“He was very, very generous with his compliments.”

Horsman worked with a limited staff due to budget cuts, but he praised their work ethic in getting the job done.

“We were lean and mean and we got it done.”

Horsman will be working on a pilot project for skinned infields on ball diamonds during the upcoming season. He found an irrigation cannon that shoots upwards of 100 feet that he plans to install on the infields.

“That means I can do my skinned infields in five minutes, by myself with the push of a button, rather than three guys with a hose out there trying to fight the dust.”

He said the problem with skinned infields is that they are high in maintenance, citing the wind and dust can wreak havoc. The diamonds at the complex are situated in an open area and are subject to high winds.

“Sometimes you can’t see one field from the other because of the wind and the dust. The only way to fix it is with water. There’s no other way.”

Horsman found the ideal irrigation head, but didn’t have the time to install it in 2016.

“We have all the parts and all the materials, and in the spring the first thing we’re going to do is go out and put one of the heads behind the mound so it won’t be in play and there’s no danger in tripping over it.”

He expects the infields will be wetted down to the point where they are playable. Adding a conditioner to his infield mix along with water should require about five minutes’ time every hour or after every game.

“I’m really hoping it works because if it does work, it’s going to be the cat’s meow. I can stand at the shop, push a button, five minutes later off she goes, and away they go and play.”