Question
As a member of a Perochial School Athletic board in Cincinnati Ohio, we offer many sports for the kids at the school.  Football, baseball, softball, all are played and practice upon the same field area. The field is a mess due to the constant use, and due to the almost constant use, there isn't any time for the surface to repair itself.  Are their any hardier types of grasses that can take the constant beating and are self repairing. Would appreciate any help - the field is a mess.  Thanks  

Answer
I would be interested in hearing how things are developing with this field.  

Chris,

Unfortunately, you face a problem that troubles turf managers the world over.  Over use of fields is a serious problem that is not easily addressed.  First understand that there are no overnight answers or magical solutions to your problem.  

As far as a grass species that will repair itself...your options are incredibly limited in Cincinnati Ohio.  In more southern regions of the nation, bermudagrass is used because it does have excellent lateral growth both above and below ground.  However, bermudagrass as it's name indicates is a warm season grass that requires warm climates to grow in.

Before we go further let me explain about "bunch-type" grasses and "rhizomatous-type" grasses.  Most cool season grasses are considered bunch-type grasses.  The seed germinates and one grass plant begins to grow.  If that plant is killed one way or the other a plant of the same species would have to replace it by either germination or planting.  I say of the same species because weeds will often fill in thin spots in turf stands.  Bermudagrass is a rhizomatous-type grass species.  When a bermudagrass plant grows, it grows both vertically and laterally.  Bermudagrass can spread above the ground by stolons, or under the ground by rhizomes.  Either the stolon or rhizome can at some point take root and a new part of the plant begins growing there.      

There are some tall fescues on the market which have been known to produce rhizomes which should give recuperative potential.  However in my own personal experiences, the actual proven benefits have been minimal at best.

In my opinion, knowing no more than what I do about your situation, I would suggest the following.  First, make sure your field is comprised of a good quality grass species suitable for your climate area.  Something like a bluegrass and perennial ryegrass blend should work well.  Ryegrass is a excellent turfgrass for sports fields.  It holds up very nice under traffic compared to other species.  However, there is a point at which no species will survive, as you may be experiencing already.  

Second, get all the coaches, school officials, and the field manager together for a meeting.  Identify the biggest problem areas, i.e. goal mouths, mid field, sidelines ect., and see what can be done to minimize use of these areas.  For instance, does the football team have to practice in the middle of the field everyday?  Or could the team move 10 yard per day.  If the team moved the majority of it's drills just 10 yards per day it would be 10 days before the team was concentrating over the same area again, 10 goes into 100 10 times.  Does that make since?  Same thing goes for baseball and softball, if the coaches would have the players move up, over or back just a few feet each day during warm-ups or drills, you will notice a big difference.  

Also, make sure that your field manager has the tools he or she needs to make the field playable.  It is hard to grow grass anywhere without proper fertilizer and water applications.  Also, the filed manager should have the authority to say when the field can or cannot be used.  For instance, if Cincinnati gets 2 inches of rain the night before a major scrimmage.  The field may not be too muddy for the coaches but it could take a season to recover from the damage to the field if the game is played.

Finally, more and more schools are moving towards artificial surfaces.  While personally, I hate to see this happen because there is no better playing surface than natural grass, it does have it's place in certain situations.  However, I beg you to please do your homework and don't just buy the cheapest system out there.  There are a lot of things to consider such as warranties and quality installation.  

I hope this has helped some.  I'm sorry for the book, but there are a lot of considerations that should be made in cases such as yours.  Please feel free to follow up with me if you have any more questions.  

Thanks!

turfnut2