SAN DIEGO, April 18, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The San Diego Chargers have chosen FieldTurf as the new artificial turf for one of their practice fields at Chargers Park. The joint announcement was made today by Chargers Executive Vice President/COO Jim Steeg and FieldTurf CEO John Gilman.
The installation of the new FieldTurf will begin today and the new field is expected to be ready well in advance of the Chargers' 2005 training camp, which opens on July 26. This will mark the first training camp that San Diego has held at Chargers Park. The team held camp in Carson, CA the past two summers.
Chargers Park opened in 1997, and is one of the newest and most state-of-the-art practice facilities in the National Football League. Chargers Park features three practice fields, including the one that is being resurfaced with FieldTurf.
"With training camp coming to Chargers Park for the first time this year, we wanted to upgrade our facility and make sure the fields could withstand the additional usage," said Steeg. "FieldTurf has set the standard and become the norm for artificial turf fields in the NFL and around the country. Our players say it's like playing on natural grass. Twenty-one of the 32 NFL teams have it at their facility or in their stadiums. The addition of this field will give us a new, durable practice field that we will use year-round and especially in preparation for games on FieldTurf, such as Indianapolis and New York."
"The Chargers have established themselves as one of the 'glamour' teams in the NFL, and it's an honor to be associated with them," said Gilman. "Certainly, the facts show that FieldTurf is the undisputed industry leader, and that's simply because our product is unparalleled. There's a reason that 21 of the NFL's 32 teams have selected FieldTurf, and I can't tell you how proud everyone associated with FieldTurf is of that relationship. I have the utmost respect for the Spanos family, Jim Steeg, A.J. Smith, Coach (Marty) Schottenheimer and the entire Chargers' organization. I am supremely confident that the San Diego players and coaches will love their new FieldTurf field."
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of all NFL players who were asked to rank the league's 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, such as playability, safety, etc. The NFL players ranked FieldTurf fifth out of 32, and amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 15 of the league's 19 natural grass fields
In addition to its dominance in the NFL, FieldTurf has also established itself as the leader in the NCAA and in Major League Baseball. Additionally, FieldTurf was the first artificial turf product approved by FIFA (soccer's world governing body) for World Cup play.
FieldTurf is the result of years of research - evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass. Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion - allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.
Over the past few years, the quality and performance of FieldTurf's patented system has resulted in over 1300 installations in more than 40 countries. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com or call (800) 724-2969.