Great Thread !!! (I was hoping someone would ask that question)
I would like to nominate Stratford High School for this dubious honor.
I am not sure if their field actually has any grass, but there are hundreds of clumps of some sort of vegetation spread across the surface. The chance of a passed ball arriving at the intended player ON (or even near) the ground is virtually nil.
Stratford would probably do better if the field custodian set the mower height at zero, and just let teams play on dirt.
Stratford High School looks like a cow pasture.
pretty sure Bishop England has the worst field
sG, apparently, you've never played on a horrible field.
Belligerent,
I don't think the field is your problem.
If by worst field you mean worst facility overall it would have to be Swansea! I've frequented this backwards establishment in the last couple weeks or so to see some riveting soccer only to find that their goals aren't anchored down for matches, their nets aren't fully-strung, and the grass hasn't been cut for at least 2 weeks! It's bad enough that the soccer team must play on the football practice field because the AMAZING football program (2-8?) at Swansea demands that they use the stadium for that only but to not have any of the equipment properly supported is just SAD. Have some pride in your school and yourselves because that is just a SAD sight for anyone to behold. There are stereotypes abound in this state stemming from many a scene in the film Deliverance. I congratulate Swansea in upholding these.
truefan, I admittedly have many problems (issues) - too numerous to mention here.
Are you referring to any particular one(s)?
I've got to throw my own field at Berkeley into this mix...absolutely no winter grass planted, stays brown and sandpapery until the last week of the season, with a good sprinkling of sand and little rocks in the goal area--I can't get my own keeper to dive in warmups because she always comes up bleeding. The sideline by the bench area is on pure sand, and there are deep ruts where the football lines run. Couple that with concrete discus and shot put pads near opposite corners, some wild diagonal discus lines crossing the soccer marks, a pole from the discus net that apparently only two people know how to remove, and a good smattering of weed clumps, and I'd say we have a frontrunner.
Man, it sure looks nice and green and smooth for football season, though.
I was a little shocked at Chapin's field. It kind of reminded me of my own backyard after the last two summers of drought and me trying to keep my water bill from shooting through the roof!
I'll throw in Wilson High School. Very loose, sandy turf. Slows you down two ways. When you run it feels slow, and dust flying in your eyes.
How many HS have separate soccer fields? I know many football fields are used year round for football, soccer, lacrosse and etc. Many baseball fields are in perfect playing condition because they are only used one season.
Greenwood has its own seperate soccer field and i know dorman does too
Clinton has its own field.
Byrnes has its own field, but sometimes they use the football field.
I agree with kickittome in that Wilson's field is pretty terrible. Haven't been there since '06, but at that time the field was a construction zone because they were putting a new track in around the field.
I would have to say Beaufort Academy has the single worse field. It is about 85% sand and the rest is coarse grass and sand-spurs. I know it is a SCISA team and it is little, but I mean come on at least have a little respect for your team and others and work on that. When I played at PG we would play there are win by about 2 goals (excluding last year, 8-1) and when we played them at home we would wipe the floor with them. A bad field can screw over the best team and I believe there has to be some rule where the field needs to at least be 50% grass.
I'd say Stratford is the worst down here. North Myrtle isn't real good either.
The best are BE and PG!
Barnwell High has its own soccer field...1st year of the field.....still working on getting it in good soccer shape!
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Barnwell High has its own soccer field...1st year of the field.....still working on getting it in good soccer shape!
For anyone else that has played on that field, do they get the feeling that it is kind of short?
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Barnwell High has its own soccer field...1st year of the field.....still working on getting it in good soccer shape!
For anyone else that has played on that field, do they get the feeling that it is kind of short?
It is 105 yds. long by 60 yds. wide.
Barnwell's field is 105 yards long. We, the coaches, were not asked how long or wide we wanted the field to be. Hopefully before next year we will get the fence moved back and the field will be 110 yards long.
i personally hated playing on our (Ridgeland) field back in the day.........
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I'd say Stratford is the worst down here. North Myrtle isn't real good either.
The best are BE and PG!
I personally liked North Myrtle's field, minus the dip on the touchlines, which wasn't even all that bad. It never really hindered anyone that I could see, including myself. In terms of the condition of the grass, I always thought that it was pretty good.
I think NMB has a nice field as well. I agree with the dip on the touchlines being steep, but overall great grass and well maintained.
I personally think it would be nice if all field could be wider. The majority we play on are between 55-60, sometimes 65. We are at about 61 right now, and can only get about 64 at the most, but would have to do alot of work to accomplish that.
James Island had a nice field this year. Very impressive for a public school.
Spartanburg's field is horrid....with the rye slippery grass and it just sucks
Summerville's used to be pretty bad...there were portions of the field that were astroturf by the touchlines...quality...
i would have to say summerville has the worst field. lopsided, with patches all over the field.
walhalla is almost all sand. my knee just touched the ground and i had scrapes.
summervilles field is finally looking descent this year
I must agree with Belligerent - the field at Stratford is horrible. It appears as they have done nothing to it since football season ended. There are hugh ruts at the center of the field, bare spots with no grass and then clumps of hugh weeds. It does need to be cut at the lowest level as the weeds were ankel deep. By the way...the baseball fields were picture perfect!
AD's of the school are the ones that hinder the fields. Most only care about football, due to the revenue and when the season is over the field takes a back seat. But if they maintained them correctly throughout the year there wouldn't be a mad scramble to get them ready after soccer is over. I'm in the turf industry and it doesn't take that much effort to make them look top notch, mostly desire to do so.
The field at Landrum seems extremley short. I saw them play Woodruff a couple weeks ago, and players were ripping shots from half field.
Just wanted to jump in before we line up all the AD's and throw rotten fruit at them. Sometimes (as in our case) it is NOT the AD who has ultimate control over the fields. Heck he recently let me make the call as to field conditions and whether or not we should play a boys/girls double header against Spring Valley after a night of rain. We walked out on the field together the afternoon before, assessed things, and let me make the final call the next day. Yes, our AD does have a lot of input, but ultimately it is up one guy at the D.O. who is in charge of ALL fields in the district.
As for base/softball, well, I know that at least two of our schools are allowed to use donated outside services, pay for outside services, or make use of the agricultural classes at a school to maintain their fields. My understanding is that since those fields are not 'community' fields used by more than one sport they can police themselves to some degree. Yes I am envious, you should see the stick ball fields at BHS- very well maintained- but lets also admit that the coaches and players are often the ones out there grooming the fields, riding the 'dirt tractor' around the infield and performing other duties. The coaches and players do help "earn their fields."
I just wish we could play our games in the 'big' stadium which sits empty all spring and not have to play all of our different our spring sport matches (3 sports- 10 teams) on one of the same fields we also have to practice on.
Oh- but back to the original reason for the post--- it is not always the AD who is the bad guy!
tk
I'm not going to comment on the worst field, but kudos to Strom Thurmond High School and Coach Arthur Northrop for consistently having one of the top pitches in the state.
My understanding is that their school's FFA (Future Farmers of America) has a "turf class" that prepares students going into golf course maintenance, etc. fields and they have their soccer field at J.E.T. Middle School in top shape.
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I just wish we could play our games in the 'big' stadium which sits empty all spring and not have to play all of our different our spring sport matches (3 sports- 10 teams) on one of the same fields we also have to practice on.
Agreed. Blythewood needs to be playing in the stadium for varsity matches. I can understand JV or such playing on the field inside the track, but no excuse for the varsity sides not to play in that beautiful stadium. It's a direct slight to soccer.
I probably should post this under an alias for more than one reason-- but Ridge View too! They should also have the option to choose to play there if they want to since it is a district stadium.
Well, been nice knowing y'all.
tk
But does Blythewood have the option to play in the "Big Stadium?" I thought it was strictly for football.
Batesburg leesville or however it's spelled. The whole field is all mud even on a dry day there is miss painted lines, and you could even see the fertilizer they put down in an attempt to get something to grow. The condition of their field though does not reflect how they play, they play with heart and intensity and wont stop till the final whistle.
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But does Blythewood have the option to play in the "Big Stadium?" I thought it was strictly for football.
That is correct. It is strictly for football except that the band does get to hold one competition in there as well. I believe the band director has given his first born child away seven different times however to gain this option.
tk
Ah, well maybe someone should start a petition to get different sports to use the stadium. It is the ultimate pitch!
Coach, I know that the majority of HS Soccer programs are not allowed to use the Football stadium for soccer or other sports. SV does get to use theirs for the Viking Cup, although it is not always politically correct to use it. Plus it's not always the best field on campus.
Porter-Gaud and Bishop England have excellent soccer facilities!
Swansea has the worst field I've ever seen! It's terrible. Teh goals/nets are terrible. Just awful. They ought to play in the football stadium instead of that stupid track field.
Since we are talking about soccer facilities here...
It has come to my attention that when York builds its new school they have cut out the new soccer facilities due to a 'rare plant found in the local forest'.
What a load of crap!
We were at Porter Gaud's field a couple of weeks ago for a JV match...that's the kind of grass that just makes you want to play barefoot. Great facility.
most of yall must be forgetting waccamah....besides the crazy bugs that come at night lol amazing field
west ashley has a nice field but the bugs ruin it!!!!
Chapin's feild is like a big arc
Mullins is without a doubt the worst I've ever seen. Never mowed, donut tracks on the field. Sandy soil and no real benches for the teams.
LINCOLN by far has the worst field i have ever played on. It was like playing on the beach with a layer of loose grass sitting on top of the sand. The field was the shortest field ever. There were no benches for either team. The stands were falling apart. The bathroom/locker room looked like something had died and burned up inside. During the game, there was a swamp near by and the bugs were atrocious. Downright worst I've ever played on.
lol yea i forgot about mullins ...the lines were every where and the players and coaches sat in the stands with the fans haha
I would like to point out that Wahalla's field is in pretty rough shape. Not only the corner's dip off like crap but the only grass they have (which is still hit or miss) is six inches tall and along the very edges
BC has the smallest field ive ever seen.
Nemco - Brookland-Cayce's field is deceptively small as it measures 116 long and 56-2/3 in width, but is encompassed by only a four-lane track as opposed to 8-lanes at most high schools. This makes the stands much more on top of the action than at far removed stadiums. The 56-2/3 width is not as narrow as some pitches, but in our new stadium in the coming future, we should have a 70-yard pitch.
Does anyone know the dimensions of Dorman's field. I remember it being small a few years back when I visited it but I did not remember it being that small!
hey chick i kno ur a dillon follower how big is yalls field...its pretty small?