Right next door, in the state of Ohio, legislators have introduced bipartisan House Bill 605 that requires natural grass in all professional sports stadiums due to higher incidence of non-contact lower extremity injuries on artificial surface playing fields. This applies to pro football, baseball and soccer. The bill has the support of the NFL Players Association.
… the National Football League Players Association, which tacked on its support after finding that 93% of NFL players prefer grass fields — see artificial turf as a workplace safety issue …
Creech, whose district contains parts of Montgomery and Butler counties, said there are almost three times as many lower extremity injuries on artificial grass than natural grass, including significantly higher risks of fractures and more serious concussions, according to studies from the National Center for Health Research.
Ohio House Bill 605:
The playing surface of a professional sporting stadium shall be comprised of not less than ninety per cent natural grass and maintained at industry standard levels for high performance field surfaces.
… competitions that occur on natural grass surfaces result in fewer non-contact lower extremity injuries, and therefore, that natural grass provides the safest available work environment for athletes who compete on either natural grass, synthetic turf, or a blend.
Meanwhile, the North East School District continues its $3.7 million plastic grass project because all of the other schools are doing it.
Richard Locke says
The new field is a big mistake for the athletics in NE.
Injured players will be a life long problem.
The band and marching groups are the only one that will not be injured. They will not get dirty shoes.