One of the biggest debates between sports at Wilmington Friends School is, who truly deserves to get the turf, especially if you play a girl’s sport. Turf allocation for boy’s sports is about gender, availability, and more, and many students see this as being unfair. When Devon Adams, the assistant athletic director was asked: Why do 2 boy’s teams get turf in fall and spring but no girls’ teams? She said “During Fall, Boys Soccer primarily practices on Mellor Field while Field Hockey primarily plays on the (award-winning) Field Hockey Field. Field Hockey coaches are allowed to schedule games on Mellor, and practice times are scheduled accordingly. While Field Hockey is moving towards turf being the “norm”, many teams across the state and country continue to play on grass fields. In the Spring, all lacrosse games (boys and girls) are played on Mellor Field. Girls Soccer is allowed to schedule games on Mellor as well, with rainy day games moved to the field when available. Utilizing Tattersall Field in the spring allows for our athletes to have better spacing to their game schedules, along with working within the confines of daylight as WFS does not have lights on any field.” When I asked Mr. Clothier, the field hockey and girl’s soccer coach: What goes into his decision on whether or not to play on the turf he re- sponded with, “I try and find dates that are not only conflicts with other teams but dates that work best with the teams we are playing. Weather also plays a part in my decision as well, for example, if it is raining it is smarter and preferred to play on the turf to prevent slipping.”
When other student-athletes were asked: Do you prefer playing on turf or grass better? !ey both had similar answers. Lucy White, a girl’s soccer player said “When playing soccer I prefer to play on turf instead of a bumpy football $eld. It is a lot more di%cult to play on the grass because for club I mainly play on the turf and switch- ing back and forth between grass and turf is very challeng- ing.” When Andres Quesada, a boy’s soccer player was asked the same question he said “I prefer the turf because I play on turf for club and We play most of our games on the turf when we are home and away.” Both teams prefer to play on the turf which leads to the argument: Who deserves to play on the turf?: Lucy and Andres both agree that “Turf time should be equally split between sports to ensure fairness.”
Devon Adams was adamant in saying that ACL tears can occur much more frequently when playing on turf. Yale Medicine conducted a study on whether or not females are more likely to experience ACL tears versus males, their research showed that females are two to eight times more likely to experience an ACL tear than males. Sage Journals explains that due to the synthetic nature of turf, it prohibits the release of cleats compared to grass $elds which contrib- utes to a 16% increase in lower body injuries especially for females.
Some might feel it’s unfair that boys get the turf for two seasons while girls don’t. While their feelings make sense, it’s important to consider the reasons behind these decisions.
