EAST LANSING, Mich. – Turf burn is one of the main reasons that the men’s and women’s club rugby teams are excited for upgrades at their new home - the College of Veterinary Medicine recreation field.
To help make both teams more comfortable, Michigan State plans to invest an estimated $250,000 for maintenance and upgrades at the field. The estimate comes weeks after the completion of new artificial turf fields along Service Road.
The men’s and women’s teams played and practiced on the Service Road fields before the renovations. Now, Michigan State has agreed for the teams to move to the College of Veterinary Medicine field, called Vet Med Field.
“We played on turf our last two games,” said Gabby McHugh, president of the women’s rugby team. “We are glad to not play on turf. One person on my team has rough turf burn. A big gash on her leg. So, we are glad we have grass on our field. The turf is just tougher.”
Artificial turf, a surface that mimics natural grass, has tiny black crumbs of ground-up car tires which help cushion the synthetic grass. The rubbery cushion reduces injuries for athletes.
Turf, a common athletic surface for many sports, is uncommonly used in rugby and often not preferred.
Josh Kipp, president and captain of the men’s rugby team, has played the sport for five years and prefers to play on natural grass.
“Rugby is not meant to be played on turf,” Kipp said. “Rugby is just a really old, ancient European sport that is just designed to be played on grass. It is a very different sport when you play it on turf.”
Kipp said that multiple aspects of rugby are dependent on leverage, which changes drastically with artificial turf.
“Rugby Spikes are designed differently from other cleats and the spikes themselves are typically longer to dig further into the ground for more stability and traction. When playing on turf, you typically can’t dig in as deep thus losing a little bit of traction,” Kipp said.
Kipp and McHugh described the plastic used to make the turf and rubber pellets as the source of friction, causing abrasions on exposed skin. This hardened surface also impacts how fast the players run, pursuit angles and how the ball bounces.
Former men’s rugby head coach Tim Britain, who works in the landscaping industry, was aware of the flaws that needed to be fixed and contacted the university. Kipp was thankful that Britain provided input.
“He had been talking to them for years about possibly trying to fix our field because our old field was horrible,” Kipp said. “You could find shrapnel in the ground if you really looked hard enough and the field was super uneven. It was not very well maintained, and we used to have to paint it as the players. We would have to try to run a string down the side of the field and have a bunch of college kids try to paint these lines and it would always turn out horrible.”
Expected to begin in the spring, the upgrades could include leveling and regrading the land, a robust drainage system, irrigation and an athletic blend of natural grass.
McHugh said a level field and drainage are crucial for the team’s performance. In the past, the team has dealt with mud patches from rain and endurance issues from an uneven playing surface.
“It will make our team happier. We like when our fields are nice and it’s easy to practice on,” McHugh said.
Ean Montague, the communications and brand manager for the MSU auxiliary sports group, noted that the estimates given to the rugby teams are not certain.
“We are kind of still in the exploratory phase with the planning really. We are trying to see what things are going to cost and what we’re going to be able to do,” Montague said.
Montague said the conditions of the Vet Med Field make it an upgrade over the Service Road grass field that the team previously played on.
“The surface was really hard. It was all either overgrown or undergrown depending on how much water we were getting,” Montague said. “Hopefully we can invest more into that so that not just the rugby clubs can use it, because I know they need a good grass surface to play rugby on. It’s no fun getting tackled on the turf.”
Montague emphasized that upgraded recreational sports and fitness areas should excite students and influence them to get involved.
“The interest in sports is always there, but having a better place to do it just makes the experience that much better,” Montague said. “Hopefully for our incoming students too, it will kind of be an encouragement to see these facilities and know that is something that our university takes a lot of pride in. Having the space to do things and to form those memories is really important.”
Upgrade plans are expected to be complete by the end of the fall semester.