DALTON, Ga., April 20, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Ohio State University has selected and installed FieldTurf as the new artificial turf surface for one of its primary practice fields at the school's athletic complex. The announcement was made by FieldTurf Vice President/Sales Joe Galat. The selection of FieldTurf by college football's 2002 national champions marks the latest on the lengthy list of major college and NFL installations for FieldTurf, the undisputed leader in the artificial turf industry.
The installation has now been completed, and the Buckeyes have been able to utilize the new FieldTurf field during spring practice as they begin preparations for the 2004 season. The field will primarily be used by the Buckeyes' football team, but will also receive usage from OSU's baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse teams. FieldTurf replaced natural grass on this Ohio State field.
"We have only been on the FieldTurf four times (during spring practice), but the footing is excellent and it looks great," said Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel.
"We made the decision to put FieldTurf in, and the installation was just completed," said Ohio State Assistant Athletic Director/Facilities Don Patko. "Both the team and our coaches seem very pleased with the new FieldTurf field. Our initial reaction is that FieldTurf provides a very solid multi-use field for all weather conditions."
"Ohio State has long been one of the most prestigious programs in all of college football," said FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. "The success and tradition of the Buckeyes is matched by very few. We are excited to now be a small part of that tradition. I'm confident that the OSU players and coaches will love FieldTurf . . . it's as close as you can get to natural grass, and its safety, durability and high quality are well known throughout college and professional football."
Ohio State becomes the fourth Big Ten school to install FieldTurf on either its stadium field (Michigan, Wisconsin) or its practice field (Penn State). More than 25 major NCAA universities now have FieldTurf in their stadiums, while 20 NFL clubs use FieldTurf.
The flurry of FieldTurf activity comes on the heels of the NFL Players Association's recent league-wide survey in which NFL players resoundingly selected FieldTurf as their artificial surface of choice. In the survey of 1280 NFL players who were asked to rank the league's 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, FieldTurf ranked third, which marked the first time that an artificial surface had ever cracked the top ten. Amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 20 of the league's 22 natural grass fields.
FieldTurf is a privately held company that holds worldwide patents on its products and methods of installation. FieldTurf also offers a full range of golf, landscaping and playground artificial grass solutions. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.FieldTurf.com, or call (800) 724-2969.