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Mr. Darrell L. Mooney:

As you saw from the forwarded e-mail I sent to local soccer officials in late August, I was quite impressed with the athletic field your company installed at Bexley High School in Columbus, Ohio. Since my first experience on the surface, which was literally the day the installation was being completed, I have had the opportunity to work three other games, and each time I have been there I have been even more impressed with your product, and your firm's workmanship.

When I first arrived at the field, I was surprised to see what looked like grass, only much greener than it usually gets in Ohio (and I live in Marysville, home of The Scotts Company of Turf-builder fame). The other thing I noticed was that the lines had been painted incredibly straight-another rarity in high school athletics. It wasn't until I was almost on the field that I could see that it wasn't a natural surface. The "realism" for spectators must be incredible.

During my first game, last August, there was an occasional rain falling, so I was concerned about my footing, as I had worn "flats" in anticipation of an artificial turf "rug". However, I never had one moment of instability, and I also never had a single occasion when I felt like my shoes "gripped" too much. To put it simply, your surface felt like grass underneath, but the "fill" material gave me better traction than I'd expected without cleats. In subsequent Matches I have always worn molded cleats, not for better traction, but because they're more comfortable to me. I have noticed no increase or decrease in traction, or any negatives at all, while wearing cleats on the field you installed. One nice and entirely unexpected benefit has been that I felt much more sure of my footing, and was able to stop, pivot, turn and continue running as if I were wearing screw-in cleats on a world-class turf field. Although the surface feels soft, like a plush carpet with a good pad, I have never felt additional leg strain after working a match, and rarely have I observed players slipping, despite leaning at angles much more common on basketball courts than on soccer pitches.

From a safety standpoint, I have also been quite impressed. Not one player went down with any of the injuries classically associated with artificial surfaces during the four games I officiated - "rug burns", knee ligament tears or ankle sprains, or even hip pointers and dislocated shoulders from hard falls. Frankly, I never saw anyone so much as stub a toe.

Also, the last game I worked was a boys regional semi-final, between two teams from remote high schools. Neither team had any difficulty adapting to the surface during warm ups, and both teams' captains were impressed with the field conditions, especially since it was nearly November when they played. All tournament games I had worked in the two weeks prior had been played on multi-use fields like yours, and virtually all of the surfaces were torn up from football to the point that any rolling ball soon became a bouncing ball. Not on your surface.

Mr. Mooney, I will be recommending that the Ohio High School Athletic Association utilize the field at Bexley High School for as many tournament games and finals as the High School will permit. In my opinion, there's not a better surface for high school soccer in the entire State of Ohio.

Sincerely,

Jean-Marc O'Connor
OHSAA Class 1 License #154434
Member and Licensed Official, National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association
National Diploma holder, National Soccer Coaches Association of America
Regional Commissioner, American Youth Soccer Organization Pilot Region 1369
M.A., Sports Management, The Ohio State University