MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Middlebury College unveiled its new synthetic grass soccer field on Saturday, September 8, to a crowd of about 500 soccer fans who witnessed the men’s team’s 2-0 victory over Connecticut College.
The audience of students, alumni, family members, faculty, staff, and townspeople cheered as the Panthers scored a goal in each half on a sparkling clear, late-summer afternoon with temperatures in the low 90s.
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| The new synthetic grass surface on the South Street field. |
The new surface was manufactured by FieldTurf, a leader in artificial turf surfacing with over 2,000 installations in 40 countries. FieldTurf is the same firm that manufactured the pitches at Columbia, Yale, Marquette, Texas Tech, and Boston Universities; at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., where the New England Patriots and New England Revolution share the field; and at the training facilities for Liverpool, Leeds, Chelsea, and other English Premier League football clubs. President Ronald D. Liebowitz welcomed the crowd at halftime, including many alumni soccer players who returned for the occasion. He noted the long-standing success of the men’s soccer program at Middlebury, and said the new pitch exemplified the College’s commitment to excellence in athletics.
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| Welcoming the crowd is President Liebowitz with Director of Athletics Erin Quinn at left. |
The construction of the new soccer field first required the removal of the topsoil and underlying loam layer from the old field along South Street near Porter Hospital. Then local contractors built a new drainage system, laid new sub-grade and base materials, installed the synthetic grass surface, and filled it with cryogenic rubber and silica sand.
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| Middlebury junior Casey Ftorek (18 in white) eludes a Camel defender during the Panthers' 2-0 win on September 8. |
According to FieldTurf, its patented rubber and sand “infill” provides “superior safety, grass-like stability, and long-term resilience,” in addition to a “low abrasion index” similar to real grass. The project also included re-designing the viewing stands for fans and moving the coaches’ and players’ area to the east side of the field.
Designed primarily for the men’s soccer program, the field also will be used for women’s soccer games when the weather necessitates it. In the spring it can also function as a multi-purpose field for varsity teams and intramurals. At 120 yards by 80 yards, it is one of the largest synthetic playing surfaces in New England.
The men’s soccer team plays next on the new FieldTurf pitch September 12 against Castleton State College at 4:30 p.m. After two away games, the team will return September 25 for a 4:30 p.m. match with Colby-Sawyer College.