Due to extreme hot temperatures and high heat index, Lil Sluggers T-Ball is cancelled for this afternoon, Friday, July 6, 2012. For info call 412-343-3409
Update July 8, 2012 10:36 PM Please read Penn State's Center for Sports Surface Research Synthetic Turf Heat Evaluation – Progress Report dated January 2012.
8 comments:
According to a 2002 study conducted by C. Frank Williams and Gilbert E. Pulley of Brigham Young University, in which one half of BYU’s football practice field had synthetic turf and the other half had sand-based natural turf, the surface temperature of synthetic turf was 37 degrees higher than asphalt and 86.5 degrees higher than natural turf.
Consequently, there are those who theorize that artificial grass is a significant contributor to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which is said to increase energy use, air pollution and heat-related health problems."
I know I appreciate the Environmental Sustainability Board for bringing this issues to light! It's nice to know there are non-partisan individuals that place the health and welfare of our youth above everything else.
Hun?... what?... nah?... What do you mean the ESB hasn't said anything pro or con on this topic? They're are the watchdogs for our community, I don't believe they don't have anything to say on these issues. They must have some material on the topic... after all it's for the kids... Right!?
Many studies out there say the same thing.
I went to the tennis center yesterday and did saw over to the baseball fields with all the kids playing...and I thought to myself, "Self, there wouldn't have been any baseball for the entire last week if that was artificial turf. Too dang hot".
Any those guys complain about cancelling due to rain outs once every couple months....priorities, boys. Priorities.
This past week the 3 Municipal athletic fields along Cedar Blvd. have been barely been in use although in pristine condition...perhaps only 1 and rarely 2 of the 3 fields in use at any point in time, maybe even then just 2-3 hours / day&evening.
And the TSA is claiming we have a shortage of fields ? Are children and teenagers able to use the fields only when helicopter parent/adults are present to supervise and fret over them ?
Are you kidding?
You really expect our little darlings to play a game on a mundane grass field. How gauche.
"mom, dad... I'm not going anywhere near a ballfield to play anything unless it's the most expensive playing surface one can buy! Where do you think we live... Dormont?!"
"Oh, can you take us over to their pool, the waters cleaner."
The school fields are not overused either. Often the fields are empty are used by just one team when there is room for more to play.
Let's face it---this "lack of fields" was just a ploy to justify the desire for turf.
I suggest the district's name be changed from Mt. Lebanon School District to Mt. Lebanon Athletic District.
Just a suggestion.
With almost everyone having a smartphone or digital camera is it possible to set up a system where people can send or accumulate photos of the fields empty or crowded with a date stamp in the photo.
I suspect there are a lot of vacant fields during the week.
I'm willing to concede that my perception may possibly be wrong. There has to be an easy way to document whether our fields are crowded or not.
My guess is that there are certain fields that are overused and some that are underused.
Who wants to drive all the way to Brafferton...that's almost in Dormont.
The Cedar fields are used consistently during baseball and soccer seasons (my son has played many a youth soccer match there). But I don't remember seeing football being practiced there.
Mellon is used consistently during lacrosse and football seasons but I don't remember seeing soccer over there.
But you do make a fair point. Use your slot sheet that you handed out which showed a million percent increase in utilization with turf, and have that ready for ALL fields (including the ones you don't like to practice on)....and have it verified by someone that doesn't like you very much.
The simple truth in the turf debate is that no one has done a simple comparison of the cost of maintaining Wildcat/Middle of a grass field and the Total Cost of Owning a Turfed Foeld there.
Mr. Feller should a good idea of how much the municipality spends every year on average to maintain it like it is now. After all it hasn't changed much in the last 20-30 years. Then compare that average yearly expenditure against the YSA proposal.
Quite simply if the artificial turf last 10 years (life expectancy is 8-15) then the TCO of ownership of fake grass is approximately $100,000/year.
I've heard in passing that rough estimates for current grass maintenance is less than $10,000.
So the question becomes can we afford another $90,000/year expenditure for a few more hours of kiddie sports?
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