As they sprinted through the damp morning grass of the practice fields, the pothole in the distance approached closer and closer. Suddenly, they slipped on the uneven ground, scraping their knee and rolling their ankle just before the biggest game of the season.
Students and coaches at Bowie High School have complaints about the installment of turf fields being neglected. The athletic department has had a bond from 2022 that was passed to go towards school modernization, safety improvements new technologies and to install turf to replace Bowie’s main field. The installment process has been postponed multiple times for many reasons including Bowie being located in the Edward’s Aquifer recharge zone but girls soccer coach, Carrie Hoffman-Howell now believes the task is underway.
“We definitely are on it. We thought we might have had [turf] by this summer, but it’s coming,” Hoffman-Howell said. “They’re planning on turfing one of the two fields. And once that happens, yes, that will solve a lot of problems.”
Athletes and coaches have expressed multiple issues with the current practice fields, including the improper field conditions, the inconvenient distance from the athletic locker rooms, and the impact of the weather. The installation of turf would significantly improve these conditions.
“Obviously, we’re hoping for turf, and that will help us,” Hoffman-Howell said. “ For one, that’ll cut the cost of field maintenance, and we wouldn’t have to mow the field so often. Turf would probably keep the snakes off the field too.”
With the field’s distance from Bowie campus, athletes are forced to cross Slaughter Lane, a heavily trafficked road, which could lead to potentially dangerous interactions for both athletes and coaches.
“We have to cross Slaughter Lane, that’s always terrifying,” Hoffman-Howell said. “I’m mainly worried about the fast cars but luckily I’m there helping the girls cross.”
The current fields require constant maintenance and can’t withstand any harsh weather conditions. Boys soccer coach Ryan Logan explains that with soccer season coinciding with when precipitation is highest, it’s extremely inconvenient and the weather is unpredictable for practicing.
“As of now teams cannot practice outside when it rains or fields are muddy,” Logan said. “With turf, you can play in the rain, and it is never muddy, and sports would not lose days of practice waiting for it to dry out.”
The unsteady terrain of the current fields has contributed to injuries in soccer. With turf providing a consistently flat surface, and being more durable, it often helps prevent injuries across all sports and would be beneficial to preventing injuries since the current field is unstable which is a significant issue.
“I’ve never gotten majorly injured on the fields, but there have definitely been some scary moments with rolled ankles,” junior soccer player Cameron Alsup said. “Turf would give a flatter playing field which would help with the number of injuries.”
Students have mentioned the inconvenience of there being a hill in the middle of the field, which doesn’t allow for a full-length field. This inconvenience limits athletes and coaches from completing drills and replicating game day.
“There’s a hill in the middle of the soccer field, so it’s not a full-length field,” Alsup said. “Which gets annoying and makes it extremely difficult to replicate a real game, also we are limited on the drills we can do, because of the terrain, space, and equipment.”
Compared to others, Bowie is one of the few schools in the area that doesn’t practice on turf. While Bowie’s soccer teams still play games on turf, Bowie practices on grass, which makes it more challenging for athletes to replicate a game-like environment while practicing.
“Almost all of the teams that we play against practice and play their games on turf,” Alsup said. “It’s definitely a challenge, and feels like a little bit of a disadvantage at times, but the team does a good job of working through it.”
Although the athletes and staff have expressed their complaints about the fields, they are still grateful for what they have been given. Previously, soccer didn’t have its own field and shared Bowie’s’ main field with various other athletic teams and clubs.
“We are lucky to have [the field],” Logan said. “Before we had to use the football practice fields and they were being overused and were unsafe to practice on for all sports, with the lack of grass and hard dirt from over usage.”
The old turf has been an ongoing problem for the Bowie soccer teams, both coaches and athletes are eager for the installment of turf. There is no official date set for the installment yet, however there are hopes that they will start working this spring and turf could be in place by fall of 2025.
“I’m excited to get turf fields,” Alsup said. “It’ll make practices more enjoyable and efficient, it would be a huge upgrade.”
