Soccer Field Playing Conditions
Before going further, my hat goes off to JL Mann soccer team. I am friends with many players and parents from that program. They are a quality team, have a great coach, and run a great program. Big Thumbs Up.
Now, reason for post.
Big Thumbs Down to JL Mann administration, coach, and Athletic Director for their subpar "third world" rate soccer playing field. It is an absolute shame and embarrassment that a program of such high esteem and magnitude has a playing field that is absolutely hands down one of the worst fields a team could be playing on during the regular season and ultimately during the playoffs. It was eye opening and shocking to walk up and see what was being used as a soccer playing field. If I had bucket of water, I could have made 10 sand castles on the field for kids to play in - this is no joke. Quite literally, you talk about having a home playing field advantage, that was unreal. It is one thing when all teams and players are used to playing on similar surfaces, but this was outrageous to watch how balls bounced and went in directions not anticipated because of uneven field levels or from hitting sand pits. I guess if you play there all the time you get used to it. Very unfair advantage when you factor in a dimension to the game that can change things tremendously.
SCHSL ought to have a minimum acceptable set of standards that teams must have to play on. Not sure who all here on the forum has played on JL Mann's home field, but the conditions for playoffs games were horrendous and a disgrace. When Northwestern played their playoff game, it was said that you could have brought Weedeaters from home to cut the knee high weeds in corners and on the field where boys were playing and taking corner kicks. I quite literally laughed off this comment thinking that no high school soccer field, especially one from a great AAAA program like JL Mann, could be that bad. My how I was so wrong to dismiss my good friend from Northwestern. Seeing is believing, I am not making this up. When we arrived on Saturday and I first walked up, my JAW DROPPED OPEN. It harkens back to a sandlot field which is nothing but sand, divets, potholes, and weeds. Please understand, grass fields have wear and tear and one expects to see maybe a bare patch here and there, our practice fields certainly do, but what I am talking about is a field with hundreds of bare patches, no grass whatsoever. Having spoken to multiple people who either played there or knew someone who did for the playoffs = Northwestern, Greenwood, DFHS - this field was horrid and dangerous to be playing on. Their practice/warmup field had more grass, less potholes, and looked like a better playing surface.
It is shameful and disgraceful when you have access to high quality grass/turf soccer playing fields in the surrounding area (less than 2-5 miles away) yet you choose to put players at risk by playing on a very dangerous field where players get hurt - twisted ankles, sand kicked in players eyes, people tripping because of uneven surfaces. It was encouraged to tape players ankles as a preventative caution. Crazy.
Thank goodness that our Region IV rival partner, Blythwood High School, will not have to play on that field with those dangerous conditions. At least it will truly be an "Equal Playing Field" as it relates to field conditions.
Is there a minimum acceptable safe playing field requirement already in place as set forth by the SCHSL? If not, this needs to be looked at because of the exact situations stated above. Player safety ought to be a priority on the field not just when the game is being played, but also before they ever step foot on field to be played on.
