DALTON, Ga., June 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The University of Southern California (USC) will install FieldTurf on one of its football practice fields, it was jointly announced today by USC Assistant Athletic Director/Football Operations Mark Jackson and FieldTurf CEO John Gilman. The Trojans thus become the sixth Pac-10 school to have FieldTurf either in its stadium or at its practice facility.
USC, the 2003 college football national champions, will install FieldTurf on one of the team's three primary practice fields. The Trojans utilize one full-size football field, one L-shaped field and a 70-yard field. The installation will begin on June 3rd.
"It was our desire to put the best artificial turf product available on our practice field, and we definitely felt that product was FieldTurf," said Jackson. "With five other Pac-10 schools already using FieldTurf, this installation will allow us to practice on a surface that we will be frequently playing on, so it will also benefit us from a competitive standpoint."
"Getting USC's renowned football program involved with FieldTurf is a major feather in our cap," said Gilman. "When a top-notch university like USC and a standout coach like Pete Carroll recognize FieldTurf as the best product in the marketplace, then that just solidifies what so many colleges, NFL teams and MLB teams already know. FieldTurf is THE undisputed industry leader in artificial turf. I am sure that the new FieldTurf surface at USC will be an asset to the Trojans as they seek to defend their national championship in 2004."
FieldTurf's performance is superior to the competition because of its patented mixture of sand and rubber infill that almost exactly replicates the soil in which the best natural grass fields are grown. The footing on this specially designed infill is just as it is on a natural grass field. Additionally, the use of only silica sand and cryogenic rubber enhances the vertical drainage of the system. The synthetic grass blades, which are surrounded by the infill, are made from soft polyethylene and polypropylene fibers that are designed to resist extreme weather and temperature conditions.
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of 1280 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 third out of 32, 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 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 800 installations in more than 20 countries. 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.