Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is Maret finally giving up their sketchy sweetheart deal using the Jelleff public field?

lol why would they do that?

Oh goody--so DC residents and their families still have restricted hours for Jelleff to make room for the kids paying 40K/year for tuition because Maret doesn't want to buy sufficient athletic fields.

Maret paid for the field maintenance and to put lights in. They get first priority from 3-5 pm during the school year. Maret being a high school uses the field from late August through October and March- last week of April 3-5 pm on week days. So for 4 months a year the field is used 10 hours a week out of 112 hours weekly. If Maret is not using the field during contracted hours the field is open to anyone. The British school also uses the field during the school year during school hours.

Jelleff being the only public field with lights is used till 10 pm most nights and all weekend and every season- spring, summer, fall and winter. Without this field there would be no place for travel and rec teams to practice or play. It is actually the opposite of what you are saying. Also Maret opens its others fields and gyms to rec and travel teams. Should that stop?

I hear the neighbors and ANC are restricting Maret’s new field to only Maret. So it will sit empty most of the year. Like the St Pats field and others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is Maret finally giving up their sketchy sweetheart deal using the Jelleff public field?

lol why would they do that?

Oh goody--so DC residents and their families still have restricted hours for Jelleff to make room for the kids paying 40K/year for tuition because Maret doesn't want to buy sufficient athletic fields.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having grown up in DC with (bad) grass fields and now seeing kids playing on the artificial turf fields, it is night and day. Teams can play in almost any rain conditions, and can play through the winter. Gone are the bumps and divots.

I love grass fields. I hate how hot turf gets, and it does change the way games are played. But the only grass fields that I have seen remain in very good shape over the years are at private schools (e.g. sidwell and stone ridge) or regulated facilities such as soccerplex. DC's remaining public grass fields get torn up quickly.

The lafayette fight was silly but I don't mind it staying as it is, as pathetic as the "grass" is. It's an elementary school play area, with a baseball diamond attached. If it is mostly a dirt bowl, so what.

The Maret fight, on the other hand, is nimby city. This will be a great perk for athletes and kids in the neighborhood, and of course if people were really convinced of the dangers of these surfaces they would be protesting every soccer league and school in the city.

I generally agree. But that grass field at Sidwell is horrible for baseball. It’s so bad it actually gives the home team a competitive advantage because most teams are not used to playing on such a mess of a surface.

That's not a bad thing. Some of the problems with our national soccer team are our players being unable to handle the imperfect fields of our regional competitors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is Maret finally giving up their sketchy sweetheart deal using the Jelleff public field?

lol why would they do that?

Anonymous wrote:So is Maret finally giving up their sketchy sweetheart deal using the Jelleff public field?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having grown up in DC with (bad) grass fields and now seeing kids playing on the artificial turf fields, it is night and day. Teams can play in almost any rain conditions, and can play through the winter. Gone are the bumps and divots.

I love grass fields. I hate how hot turf gets, and it does change the way games are played. But the only grass fields that I have seen remain in very good shape over the years are at private schools (e.g. sidwell and stone ridge) or regulated facilities such as soccerplex. DC's remaining public grass fields get torn up quickly.

The lafayette fight was silly but I don't mind it staying as it is, as pathetic as the "grass" is. It's an elementary school play area, with a baseball diamond attached. If it is mostly a dirt bowl, so what.

The Maret fight, on the other hand, is nimby city. This will be a great perk for athletes and kids in the neighborhood, and of course if people were really convinced of the dangers of these surfaces they would be protesting every soccer league and school in the city.

I generally agree. But that grass field at Sidwell is horrible for baseball. It’s so bad it actually gives the home team a competitive advantage because most teams are not used to playing on such a mess of a surface.

That's not a bad thing. Some of the problems with our national soccer team are our players being unable to handle the imperfect fields of our regional competitors.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Dutch are soccer-obsessed, but they also give a crap about children’s health.

Netherlands
Has decided to ban artificial soccer fields entirely by 2030, citing potential cancer risks associated with artificial grass. A study found that rubber crumb used in artificial turf contained carcinogenic compounds at levels 1.5–3.7 times higher than allowed in consumer products

They classify fertilizer and herbicide as causing cancer. They also pay taxes to maintenance existing fields and create more fields including mowing. If you do not do the maintenance on grass fields including mowing, watering, seeding, fertilizer, herbicide application, aeration and repairs it is a dangerous surface to play on. These grass field need to be rested.

It isn't dangerous. It's just muddy and messy. We all grew up playing on fields that weren't watered, fertilized, and herbicided. It builds character. You've created such a false forced dichotomy that it's impossible to take you seriously - especially when there is decades of data showing that artificial turf fields have much higher rates of injuries.

That for professional athletes. Having been around sports(rec and travel) the amount of injuries are much much higher on non maintained grass field is vastly greater vs artificial fields.
You are just a troll.

Just because you're being a shill does not mean that I am being a troll.

Your anecdotes are not very persuasive. Studies have been done for all levels. You are correct that there is a shockingly higher level of serious knee injuries for professional athletes but there's also twice as many incidents of ankle injuries in girls youth sports (2007) and higher concussion rates. What's more it gets worse the longer it's used because a lot of the rubber tire fill goes away over time.

Turf is worse in every way. Higher rates of injuries, increased heat island effect, and toxic chemicals. We aren't allowed to throw tires in the trash or bury them in our backyard but shredded tires are ok for youth sports fields?

The only thing turf is supposedly better at is cost and maintenance but frankly I'm skeptical.

We were talking about PVC turf, not crumb rubber. Conflating all artificial turf into the same category is deceitful.

No we’re talking about PFAs aka forever chemicals

No evidence has been submitted that the PVC turf contains PFAs. Just fear mongering.

Basic chemistry shows that all PVC resins are produced with one form of toxic technology or another, whether it be asbestos, mercury, or PFAS.

Please tell me how the turf is manufactured. Is it with asbestos, mercury or PFAs?

You are spreading misinformation.

Industrial products often use toxic chemicals in their manufacturing process. That doesn't mean the end product is contaminated. By your logic, PVC pipes would be poisoning people daily.

Your claim is that the PVC infill is somehow contaminated but have presented no evidence other than a picture of the word PVC.

How would PVC pipes poison anyone since they are only used for waste water? You obviously don’t know anything about plumbing yet you are arguing from your uninformed position?

Artificial turf contains residual chemical compounds that are not found on any natural surface. That’s just a basic fact.

Anonymous wrote:Deal's fields are artificial, but there are signs all over CCDC protesting changing the Lafayette fields to artificial.