AMES, Iowa — Ames High School student athletes have many reasons to be excited about the upcoming football season — one being a new synthetic turf field. The synthetic field will provide a safer playing surface for the players, allow more games to be played and reduce annual maintenance costs.

“Our football and soccer players can’t wait to get on the new field,” says Judge Johnston the athletic director for Ames High School. “They’ve been out at the field nightly checking on the progress.”

Johnston conducted extensive research with medical professionals and reviewed countless medical studies related to the safety of synthetic turf and discovered it’s a safer option compared to natural turf as it relates to concussion and ligament injuries. Why? The rubber crumb infill, made from recycled tires, provides more cushion than natural turf placing less strain on the athlete’s body.

Ames High School went a step further and is using Sprinturf’s CoolFill rubber crumb infill with the new CushionFall Sport technology. Although all rubber crumb infill material used for synthetic field applications is approved and deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the CushionFall technology has a variety of added benefits.

CushionFall Sport uses an encapsulation process that coats the traditionally black crumb rubber infill with a green coating containing enhanced properties that make it an even safer. Independent tests show the CushionFall Sport encapsulation process reduces crumb rubber infill VOCs by 71 percent and heavy metals content by 80 percent.

“We’ve done our homework. We know synthetic fields are safe, but we wanted to make our field even safer,” says Johnston. “With CushionFall Sport we will almost totally eliminate any concerns related to the safety of the crumb rubber infill.”

In addition to providing a safer playing surface, the green colorant also provides a realistic and aesthetically-pleasing field appearance and is UV-resistant which helps reduce the temperature on the playing surface.

“We anticipate the green coating will knock a few degrees off the field temperature during games played in August and early September,” says Johnston. “The field will also have a brighter green appearance that will be more aesthetically pleasing to our fans.”

Johnston also says the Sprinturf field will provide more playability allowing additional games to be played on the field throughout the year compared to natural turf. This will allow more Ames athletic programs to be exposed to the field enhancing their competitiveness. In addition, moving to a synthetic field will reduce overall maintenance costs and conserve water while eliminating the use of fertilizers and pesticides on the field.

“It’s truly a great field and the technology is backed with extensive research,” says Johnston. ”Our student athletes will have a safer field from an injury and environmental standpoint to play on for years to come.”

About CushionFall Sport

For more information about CushionFall Sport and support services visit the CushionFall Sport Web site at www.cushionfallsport.com.

About Sprinturf

Sprinturf is a leading U.S. based provider of synthetic playing surfaces and has delivered more than 500 athletic fields and playing surfaces across North America and Europe. Customers include nationally recognized sports programs and institutions such as the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles; Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas and DC United; the University of Pennsylvania, Howard University, Sacred Heart University, The University of Montana, Auburn University, UCLA, and the U.S. Naval Academy. For more information, visit us on the web at www.sprinturf.com or call us at 877-686-TURF.

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CushionFall Sport is a registered trademark of Becker Underwood in the U.S. and/or other countries.