Building A Home Athletic Field

Building A Home Athletic Field

Building a Home Athletic Field

This may appear to be slightly off topic for the homeowner, but we have bumped into it enough to make it a topic for discussion. Every year thousands of kids across the nation sign up with local soccer clubs, and soccer associations. School soccer programs have flourished, and the reasons are as varied as the families the kids represent. I know of more than one family that used soccer for funding higher education, through scholarships which put their children through college! Soccer is not the only sport either! There is of course, football of the American type, baseball, and a myriad of other sports played on grassy fields throughout the nation. Problem is, that there are not enough athletic fields to accommodate this!

The numbers are almost shocking, and municipal fields are costly and eat up tons of resources. School fields are built to handle limited numbers, and everyone seems to be fighting for a time slot on every field available.

One man I know came to me for some help a few years ago while building his own fields. He now has a couple of great fields, and 2 children in college on soccer scholarships.

Preparation

As in any project, preparation is the key. Do your homework. Determine your fields ultimate size. Determine your soil type, and find out if it will support the type of project you want to build. If it will not, find out what amendments it will need. Learn about field structures. A soccer field is normally flat, and a football field is crowned from the center outward in both directions to facilitate drainage. Plan the layout. Spend some time thinking about irrigation. Determine what type of grass works best in your area, and when it comes to the actual work, spend all the time you need to get a level area with a good seed bed before you even consider planting or sodding the area.

Leveling

If there is a lot of leveling to be done, you might consider hiring someone with the equipment and expertise to do the base work, unless, of course, you have the equipment and expertise yourself.

Irrigation

This is the time to install the underground irrigation if you plan to use an automated underground system. Once again, an expert may be needed, depending on your competence at installing irrigation, and local laws.

Final grade

Bringing the field to final grade can be done by the property owner. Be cautious about this work, and make sure that your grading does not cause low spots, or drainage problems for your field. Check with stakes and strings stretched across the surface from end to end, and side to side in several places, and grade accordingly.

Seeding sodding or sprigging

At this point, you have several options, whether to seed, sod, or "sprig" the field to get the grass turf in place. Sodding gives immediate coverage, but still needs to "grow in" before the field is used. Seeding is simple, straightforward, and easy, and will avoid the problem of layering one type of soil on the top of another, but, can take some time to establish a playable stand. Most grass seeds require 7 to 14 days to germinate, and a much longer time to be fully established. In fact, with any method, it is best to allow a full year before practicing, or playing on the field. Sprigging is another option, which is commonly used to establish pastures and meadows for grass and hay production. It is a very good option if you can find the sprigs, and coordinate the program at the right time of the year.

Overseeding

If you want a field to be playable in all seasons, and you live anywhere except the most temperate areas, you can over seed. Soccer is usually played in the South during the spring and fall, which means that over seeding is a good soccer option. In most cases the grass used for over seeding would be perennial rye grass, or Fescue. If you live in the south, you probably have Bermuda grass, which is an excellent turf for athletic fields. The problem can be, giving the Bermuda grass enough time to grow during the hot months of summer. If rye or Fescue are grown for spring and fall use, they will need to be removed at some point to allow the Bermuda time to grow. If nature doesn't do this for you, you may need to resort to a chemical treatment to accomplish this. Transitions can be difficult.

If enough people show interest in this subject, we will provide separate pages for the steps involved in building and maintaining an athletic field. Feel free to comment below.

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