Grass vs. turf football field debate at Sharon High School
It's the debate between grass versus turf on high school football fields.
On Monday, the Sharon City School District met to discuss the possibility of putting new turf on their football field. From repairing the weathered grass field to replacing it with turf, it's a discussion that's got a lot of people talking with mixed reactions on what the district should do.
"Both of them have advantages and both of them have disadvantages," said Chris Wallace, Offensive Lineman Coach for Sharon Varsity Football team.
"I like grass better but I like grass, not tumbleweed," Wallace added. "It's been going on for years. This year it just caught up to everything. It just was really awful this past season."
The meeting came with varying opinions from school board members. Some say the turf would be just too costly others say the current grass is just too much of a safety hazard.
"That rear section of the end zone, it sinks down," said Melvin Baker, School Board Member. "Everybody feels it's just an unsafe situation."
Some board members say the grass at Tiger Stadium puts the district behind its direct competitors. The price tag is likely to come in at over $1 million and it would be paid for by a private donation. Parents of injured students as a result of the grass field spoke up.
"If a person is donating funds to a specific thing, we can't sit here and say, well what about it and what about that? Because that's not what the man is giving the money for," said one Sharon mom of football players.
But School Board President Melvin Bandzak explained that's a one-time donation, where the turf would eventually need to be repaired and replaced.
"I always see the glass is half full when it comes to something like this," Wallace added. "Maybe not this year but I hope that it does push for us to have something for next season, whether that's putting in a new grass field or a new turf field."
"I'm hoping that we can get this done but it's going to need to make sense to the board members," Baker said. "We're not willing to raise taxes to get this done."
Architects meet Wednesday to discuss the project and create a budget for the turf. Concrete around Tiger Stadium also needs to be repaired which the district plans on addressing.
Superintendent Justi Glaros told 21 News she does not have an opinion on the matter.