The ongoing playing-surface dilemma in field hockey has taken an infilled turn. What used to be a debate simply about natural grass vs. artificial turf has added a third option: infilled polyethylene synthetic turf.

If most people in the field hockey community had their way, they'd probably choose AstroTurf because of the speed, precision and predictability it lends to the game. But few field hockey coaches get to make that choice. As a smaller, nonrevenue sport, it is common for field hockey programs to share facilities with other sports teams or intramural and recreational programs, especially in Divisions II and III.

And now, thanks to technology, the sport is faced with a new challenge as schools at all levels have begun migrating toward infilled polyethylene synthetic turf fields as a multipurpose option. Made of polyethylene fibers filled in with a mix of sand and rubber, the synthetic turf looks, plays and feels a lot like natural grass.

Indeed, infilled turf is becoming a popular choice as schools try to balance the needs of multiple sport programs, limited space and even more limited funds, while still maintaining their teams' ability to be competitive.

The biggest proponents of the infilled turf are football and soccer programs because it offers a uniform playing surface similar to natural grass. By contrast, though, the longer polyethylene fibers in the infilled turf do not necessarily provide the best playing surface for field hockey.

So what does this growing trend toward infilled turf surfaces mean for a sport that more often than not shares facilities?

A slower game

Although infilled turf is not exactly new -- it has been available for more than 20 years -- it was first used strictly for tennis and golf. Multipurpose fields for football, soccer and other traditional field sports have been around only for about the past decade.

Patrick Maguire, president of Geller Sport, a landscape architecture firm that specializes in athletics fields and recreation facilities, said infilled systems are initially more expensive than grass, but they are more cost-effective in the long run through decreased maintenance such as mowing, aeration, overseeding, resodding, fertilization and irrigation. "They also pay for themselves in greatly increased usage over natural grass," he said.

But in general, the infilled turf system has garnered only a lukewarm reception from field hockey circles, primarily because it slows the game.

"Field hockey is probably the single sport that is best suited to a surface like AstroTurf," said Sharon Taylor, director of athletics at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and president of the U.S. Field Hockey Association. "The problem is that more and more schools with shared facilities are putting in the longer-grain stuff because it better suits football or soccer, and field hockey is expected to cope with it. Frankly it's a terrible surface for field hockey. It's slow. It distorts the path of the ball."

Jen Averill, head field hockey coach at Wake Forest University and a member of the Division I Field Hockey Committee, agrees that the infilled turf is not as good for the game.

"We discourage it for the sheer fact that we have a great product available to us that allows our game to flow and develop at its best possible level and that's AstroTurf 12," she said. "The infilled system slows the game down. You're really regressing as far as technical and tactical parts of the game."

Megan Patterson, a civil engineer at Geller Sport and a former all-American field hockey player at Brown University, acknowledges the initial skepticism from Division I field hockey schools and traditional powerhouses in Divisions II and III.

"But other schools are beginning to recognize the benefits of infilled turf, particularly over natural grass; and specifically when the infilled height and materials are modified to provide a smoother surface, which provides a truer ball roll and faster play," she said.

One of those schools is Clark University (Massachusetts), which made the switch to an infilled surface about three years ago. Among the sports affected by the transition was field hockey.

"Initially, it was a huge concern for our field hockey coaches because they had been conditioned, unfortunately, that the only acceptable surface is AstroTurf," said Linda Moulton, the school's director of athletics.

Knowing the field hockey program would compete on that field, the school made sure that the infilled mix had a higher ratio of sand to rubber and was filled higher into the fibers to produce the faster surface.

"It's not the speed game that it is on AstroTurf, but we feel it's a much better, truer, safer game," Moulton said.

Compromise and partnership

Moulton also noted that field hockey coaches who share facility space often feel that their needs are overlooked in favor of other sports, especially those that generate revenue.

"If field hockey shares with football, for example, then football will undoubtedly take the upper hand and whatever surface is best for that program is what will be put in," she said. "I base this not only on hearsay, but on programs that we've either competed against or that I know of, where the AstroTurf has been replaced with the infilled system."

Taylor believes part of the issue lies in the fact that athletics directors do not fully understand the sport.

"Many understand football, and most understand soccer, but the majority don't have real experience with field hockey. Therefore they think it's a field -- it's playable. But it really is not a good situation for field hockey," she said.

Bill Gehling, director of athletics at Tufts University, disagrees that the move to infilled turf indicates that field hockey's needs are being overlooked, at least at Tufts. Rather, he said, it's all about compromise.

A recently installed infilled turf field at Tufts will be the field hockey program's primary surface. Football, soccer and lacrosse -- as well as community soccer programs -- also will see time on the surface. Until this point, the university had had no turf field of any kind. However, part of the motivation to make the move actually had to do with field hockey, since a growing number of schools in the Northeast and in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (of which Tufts is a member) had moved to infilled turf fields.

The school also had limited space and did not relish the challenge of maintaining a quality natural grass field that saw a lot of use. Limited funds ruled out AstroTurf. After investigating other options and even giving the field hockey coach the opportunity to test different types of field surfaces, the decision was made to go with an infilled turf surface.

"The field we have created, while not ideal for anybody, is going to be excellent for everybody," said Gehling. "Even if the field hockey coach might prefer AstroTurf, there's no question that there's going to be a tremendous improvement over natural grass."

Moulton said at Clark, the reaction to the new turf has been positive, even within the field hockey program.

"I think all of the coaches understood that this needed to be a surface that worked for everyone. It really was a partnership," she said.

While reaction to the infilled turf remains mixed, both Gehling and Moulton believe the trend will continue to move ahead.

"I can only speak for Tufts, but unless you have unlimited field space and a source of money I don't have, it's hard for me to picture people building AstroTurf fields in the future," said Gehling. "I think you're going to see more and more of these infilled surfaces because they come much closer to mimicking a great grass field. They are less expensive and they solve the problem so many of us have with field upkeep."