NSC selects FieldTurf Duraspine artificial turf to be installed in Sports Hall
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release, August 28, 2008
For more information:
Barclay Kruse, Chief Communications Officer
763.785.5634 (office)
763.458.6615 (cell)
BLAINE, Minn. (August 28, 2008) – The National Sports Center (NSC) announced that it has selected FieldTurf Duraspine as the artificial turf brand for the new artificial-turf field that will be installed in the indoor Sports Hall. Installation will take place in the last week of October and the first week of November.
The NSC’s indoor Sports Hall, measuring 100 x 60 yards, is host to field sports such as soccer, lacrosse, rugby and football throughout the year. It is used for leagues, training sessions and team practices. The new field will be available for rental to outside organizations, such as soccer and lacrosse clubs, schools, churches and community organizations. The National Sports Center’s indoor youth and adult soccer leagues will have the capacity to expand, due to the year-around installation.
“This new surface will provide a quantum improvement in playing surface for teams playing in any sport,” said Steve Olson, the NSC’s Chief Operating Officer. “Our new FieldTurf field will provide the highest quality indoor playing surface available today. Teams are going to love playing here.”
FieldTurf Tarkett, based in Montreal, pioneered the new generation of “infilled” artificial turf, in which sand and rubber pellets are infilled between monofilament fiber blades of synthetic grass. FieldTurf has been installed in 21 NFL stadiums.
The 2007 FIFA U-20 soccer World Cup in Canada utilized a FieldTurf stadium, marking the first time a FIFA World Cup was played on artificial grass. A total of thirteen matches, including a quarter-final, semi-final, and the championship final were played on a FieldTurf pitch.
The NSC’s FieldTurf field in the Sports Hall will cover 60,996 square feet, including the hallway in the Sports Hall. The installation of turf in the hallway will allow that area to be used as a training area.
The turf will remain in the Sport Hall year-round. The old turf that was installed for the winter season only, and removed seven months a year.
Several soccer clubs are developing usage agreements with the NSC to rent blocks of time for training sessions on the new turf, including the Champlin-Dayton, Coon Rapids, Blaine, North Suburban, Centennial, St. Paul Blackhawks soccer clubs, and the Minnesota Thunder USL team.
Teams in any sport wanting to join an NSC league or to rent time for practices and games on the NSC’s new indoor FieldTurf field should call Matt Koehn, the NSC Event Coordinator, at 763.717.3899.