Grove City High football coach Jeff Bell stood on the sideline at Forker Field in ankle-deep mud.

Because of the field conditions, Bell was forced to shelve many of the plays he wanted to use in this pivotal matchup with rival Wilmington last season.

"There wasn't any mystery about where you were running a play sometimes," Bell said. "There were only so many things you could do if you were stuck at either end, particularly the one end."

It wasn't a game played in early November, or even October, when a season's worth of wear and tear usually catches up to the field.

It was Sept. 15.

By then — just three weeks into the fall sports season — heavy activity on the field and some rainy days made the field nearly unplayable.

Where grass once flourished, only dirt and mud remained.

Later in the season, the Eagles had to move a game to the Grove City College field, where a synthetic surface had been installed six months earlier.

But those problems are a thing of the past after the school installed the same type of artificial grass field as the college as a part of a major stadium overhaul.

Grove City will open its renovated digs Friday night.

"I've been to a lot of fields," Bell said. "This is definitely the nicest."

Grove City is certainly not alone when it comes to installing an artificial surface. More and more schools around the area are realizing natural grass, unpredictable Western Pennsylvania weather and increased field use don't mix.

Artificial revolution

In 2000, Karns City became one of the first schools in Western Pennsylvania to install a new kind of artificial surface.

Gone was the concrete-like Astro Turf made famous by the Houston Astrodome as an alternative to natural grass.

The new stuff was a synthetic surface that simulated the look and feel of natural blades of grass. Cryogenically frozen and shattered rubber took the place of dirt for a soft base.

For Karns City, the decision to install artificial grass was an easy one.

"(On a rainy day), most football coaches and athletic directors would be going out of their minds," said Karns City athletic director Tom Wagner. "The ones with turf fields are smiling."

Like many schools these days, Karns City hosts sporting events that require a field almost every day.

The Gremlins play varsity and junior varsity football, varsity and junior varsity boys and girls soccer, junior high football and soccer, as well as a myriad of other events on their field — a workload that would quickly wear out even the best-kept natural surface.

"It's not uncommon for us to have three or four events on a Saturday," Wagner said. "We don't have to worry about the wear and tear.

"Right now, when you look at it, we have seven or eight teams that use that field on a regular basis. A school like Butler might have far more, not to mention other activities on that field. It doesn't take long to tear up a grass field."

When Karns City installed its artificial surface, it was the first in Butler County.

Seven years later, Mars and Seneca Valley, as well as neighboring Grove City, have synthetic grass. The Butler school board approved a plan to install an artificial grass field for next season.

"I wouldn't be surprised if every school had it one day," Wagner said.

He could be right.

There are 50 schools in the WPIAL that play football on an artificial surface, 11 in District 10 and three in District 9.

The Seneca Valley football team will play only two of its nine fgames this season on grass fields (at Baldwin and at Shaler).

In 1993, there were four schools in the WPIAL, one in District 10 and none in D-9 with artificial surfaces.

More and more schools are discovering it pays to go fake.

Economic sense

Grove City spent $1.7 million to renovate Forker Field. A portion of that money went for the new playing surface, which was installed by Covenant Sports Turf.

A typical artificial grass surface costs between $400,000 and $900,000.

That money is recouped quickly. Beyond the obvious savings of sodding and re-sodding a grass field, there are other economic benefits, coaches and athletic directors say.

Artificial surfaces don't need to be lined. The grass doesn't need to be cut — just groomed once a month. Unsightly brown spots don't need to be replanted.

Wagner quickly discovered another surprising benefit.

"Clean up," Wagner said. "There's not a lot of it. The locker rooms are clean after a game. There's no mud, no dirt."

Coaches also have discovered practice balls remain newer longer without the scuffs and grime a grass field can inflict.

But the biggest benefit for coaches is not a money savings, but a time savings.

Instead of working out on a crudely lined and marked practice field, teams can run through plays on the field where they will be run onFridays, allowing players and coaches to get a better idea of how they will work on game day.

"You have good footing everywhere," Bell said. "You have lines and numbers and you can get a feel for the field and what part of the field to make cuts in pass patterns. And the injury factor is huge. You don't have to worry about one of your guys stepping into a divot on the practice field."

Wave of the future?

Every year, more and more schools contemplate installing an artificial grass field.

Public perception has changed. While once artificial surfaces were frowned upon because of injury risks and costs, the surface is now in the mainstream among sports fans.

And the need is becoming too obvious to ignore, said Grove City athletic director Bill Jordan.

"I think the school board recognized that the facility wasn't meeting the needs for the programs we were currently running," Jordan said.

Bell took it one step further. He said the public finally bought into the idea.

"It says a lot about our town and community," Bell said. "I had a guy come down (to Forker Field) who hadn't been here for a long time and he couldn't believe it was the same field. I never thought Grove City would do this, but here it is."

But the South Butler School District opted to resod its grass field instead of installing an artificial surface.

The groundwork was laid to install the surface in the future, however.

Knoch athletic director Josh Shoop said there is still something to be said for a grass field.

"I kind of like the natural grass," Shoop said. "I kind of like the muddy games. It's high school football."