Synthetic turf has become the norm in high school stadiums today.

Knoch, Moniteau and Slippery Rock don’t mind being the exception.

Synthetic Turf Council will hold a three-hour seminar at 1 p.m. Monday at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh to discuss means of funding a turf field, its maintenance and performance, and realistic expectations.

“I think everyone understands the needs of artificial turf fields and the benefits they bring,” Knoch football coach and athletic director Mike King said. “The hard thing is the cost of putting one in.

“In these times, money is hard to come by in public education. Using it to put in synthetic turf for athletics is a tough sell.”

King and Slippery Rock High School athletic director John Osborne estimate a cost of $1 million to convert their natural grass stadiums to synthetic turf.

“It’s just too expensive,” Osborne said. “We like playing on grass. We definitely have a home-field advantage there because so many other teams are playing on turf now.”

Osborne said 85 percent of the big schools in District 10 have turf stadiums now. Derry Area is the only other team in Knoch’s section that doesn’t play on turf.

Synthetic Turf Council — an Atlanta-based company formed in 2003 to promote the industry — reports indicate that 4,500 synthetic turf fields were used in North America in 2008, including high schools, colleges, park and professional sports stadiums. That number ballooned to 8,000 by the end of 2012.

The company stated that 1,100-1,200 synthetic turf fields were installed in the United States last year.

“There are creative ways to fund these fields, through both public and private methods,” said Terrie Ward, Marketing and Education Director for Synthetic Turf Council. “In the southeast, synthetic turf is very prevalent. I know it’s growing in the northeast.”

WPIAL schools using synthetic turf have more than doubled — from 29 to 67 — over the past 10 years. Twenty years ago, only four WPIAL schools had turf fields.

“As a football coach, we like playing on grass,” King said. “As an athletic director, artificial turf makes a lot of sense.

“Schools play a lot more outdoor sports today and you can get more use out of your stadium. Physical education classes could use it as well and you can recoup some of the cost through renting out the facility. You can’t argue with Mother Nature sometimes and you want to keep your field playable.”

Knoch has paid rental fees to Deer Lakes and Butler to practice football on their turf fields in late October and November.

“By that time of year, our practice field is shot,” King said.

Freeport’s first-round home football playoff game was moved to Highlands’ turf stadium last season as heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy were forecasted.

King admitted that caught the attention of Knoch, which has hosted first-round playoff games on its grass field the past few years.

The WPIAL is considering putting all of its Class AA and A football playoff games on turf fields next season. Many of the smaller schools in the district still play on grass.

“The WPIAL has the authority to move playoff games and take you off your own field,” King said.

Only a handful of District 9 schools — Karns City, Clarion, Brockway, DuBois and Bradford — play home games on synthetic turf. Moniteau’s field has been known to get muddy, but Warriors coach Jeff Campbell is fine with it.

“We never play more than two regular season games on turf,” Campbell said. “Yet in the past five years, we’ve had five serious knee injuries and they’ve all occurred on turf fields. Two of those injuries involved no contact.

“We haven’t had one serious injury on a grass field during that time. I don’t want to see us get turf ... call me old-fashioned, but football is meant to be played on grass and in mud.”

Moniteau doesn’t have lacrosse or soccer teams, “so we don’t really need the multi-use field,” Campbell added.

Osborne admitted the day may come when high schools are forced to put in turf, whether that pressure comes from the district or the state.

“I can see that happening at some point,” he said. “I don’t see us getting turf otherwise and I don’t see a need for it here. Our field holds up pretty well.”

King won’t rule out a synthetic turf stadium at Knoch, but said it’s unlikely in the near future.

“As more and more turf companies and stadiums are out there, that industry keeps developing and maybe the price comes down after a time,” he said. “I like to stay informed on that front.”