Elkhorn, WI – In an impressive display of planning, vision, and design, the Elkhorn Area School District as part of a referendum project, redeveloped their entire athletic facility including an indoor training center, tennis courts, new running track, stadium field and two new softball fields. The school chose AstroTurf to cover the four fields with premium synthetic turf systems. The Elkhorn athletic campus has positioned themselves as a successful model for high schools looking to make significant athletic facility improvements.
Elkhorn leaned heavy on feedback from the community about the fields and the referendum vote included a stipulation to not use SBR rubber in the stadium and indoor facility fields. These are actually the first field in Wisconsin to use natural infill for its synthetic turf field. Elkhorn is also one of only a few schools in Wisconsin that have an indoor training field.
“I would say that the new AstroTurf fields have allowed us far greater opportunities to practice and play than what we have had in the past. We are able to structure our practices with certainty that we are going to be able to have a safe surface to play on. It has also allowed our community youth groups to have greater opportunities to practice,” said Elkhorn Athletic Director Daniel Kiel.
The fields themselves are top of the line. For the indoor and stadium fields, Elkhorn installed an AstroTurf DT-32 system over a Brock Powerbase shock pad. The softball fields now have infields made of the AstroTurf RootZone Diamond-I RBI turf system. These systems are perfect for the durability and performance that will be required by the Elkhorn athletes and the heavy use that these fields will get throughout the year.
“Our new AstroTurf fields have meant a lot to our sports programs. I play baseball and football and both sports have been positively impacted by these new fields. For football, the new indoor field gave us a greater advantage over any other school because if the weather got bad we could just go right inside and continue doing what we were doing. Before, we would have to find gym space and could only walk through things because of the surface,” said an Elkhorn High School athlete. “As for the baseball program, it has really helped our off season program in an extreme way. We are now able to simulate real hops and not ones that a gym floor would give us. We are now able to hit and throw after school as we are not having to fight for gym space during the winter months. The new AstroTurf fields have really brought a lot of attention to Elkhorn sports and are helping almost every one of our sports teams!”
The overall project was completed in phases throughout 2018. The indoor facility was ready for play in June, the stadium field was available for August, and the softball fields will see their first action this spring. There is no doubt that Wisconsin high schools are taking notice that the Elkhorn Area School District has just raised the bar for high school athletic campuses.
About AstroTurf:
For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s website at www.astroturf.com.