Jim Wolf captained the 2000 Staples High School boys soccer team. He now serves as president of the Westport Soccer Association, and is a member of the Staples Boys Soccer Foundation.
As discussions continue about athletic fields and artificial turf, he writes:
My wife Lizzie and I both graduated from Staples in 2001. We quickly and enthusiastically moved back to our hometown from New York City after our third child was born. We have 3 children at Greens Farms Elementary School.
After moving back, I immediately became involved in the local youth soccer programs that had such a meaningful impact on my life. Our Westport Soccer Association is a non-profit that organizes travel and rec programs for more than 1,600 kids each fall and spring.
Similar to other youth organizations in town, participation levels for the WSA have increased significantly in the post-COVID years. Our enrollment has grown more than 30% compared to 2020.
This spring we are fielding 33 travel teams. We anticipate that number to increase as the current pre-K and rec players filter up into the travel program.
Each additional travel team requires an incremental 4 to 5 hours of field time per week. There was not capacity for this growth even before the Long Lots fields were taken offline.
Other town youth sports and high school programs are seeing similar enrollment increases. The existing grass fields have become over-utilized and unrested, and significantly deteriorated in quality.
Put plainly, and as many are aware, the current field inventory in Westport is inadequate. Player safety, given field conditions, is increasingly concerning.
Lower soccer fields at Long Lots Elementary School will soon be closed.
At this point, many Westport kids unfortunately will not be able to participate. Our young athletes are at risk of missing out on the numerous developmental benefits of youth athletics.
Based on the studies presented during the Long Lots construction discussions, it is understood that there are limited opportunities to create new fields in Westport, and maintaining the existing over-utilized grass fields requires more financial resources.
The community desperately needs new investment in the fields. Lighting and artificial surfaces are both reasonable and actionable solutions.
The limited budget allocated to fields to date has resulted in the WSA and other youth programs paying a meaningful per player fee to generate incremental revenue to invest in the existing fields.
Poor condition of Wakeman grass field (lower portion of photo) can be seen from the air.
This was not ideal for our families. But we stressed the importance of the supplemental funding, and the parent community has been willing to do their part for the kids.
Given the availability and quality of the grass fields, turfing in the safest way, using the newest products available must not only be considered, but expedited. The kids and the broader community cannot afford to have an RTM ruling or process that slows down progress.
All opportunities to expand field capacity and improve quality (ranging from lighting to irrigation to resting) should be quickly acted upon. Any ordinance that limits optionality or speed of development would be incredibly unfortunate. We are already years behind other communities on this.
How hard is it to resolve to improve fields for Westport’s kids in the safest way possible?
(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Email 06880blog@gmail.com.)
The benefits of creative and outdoor play is well documented. I spent many years listening to child play expert and dear friend, the late Erma Brenner, expound in the topic.
I appreciate the many benefits of safe organized athletics for children. A couple of additional thoughts.
DIVERSIFY OUTDOOR PLAY
Organized athletics is not the only way to get kids actively engaged outdoors. I recently came across a group of homeschool children on a “treasure hunt” at a local arboretum looking for various plants, animals, streams and other outdoor things. Hiking. Playgrounds. Swimming. Skating. Sledding. Kick the can. Track sports. Gardening.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Westport is busting at the seams with an influx of youth, all of whom want to play a sport or three. The problem is that outdoor space here in our small 30ish square miles, is finite and overused. The natural grass fields, all town owned, are worn and have not been maintained to the extent required.
The demand for field play has far exceeded the town’s supply of field space. There is no more to be had. We have already sacrificed our only community garden in the name of organized athletics.
Turfed, lighted and impervious fields are also disruptive to the quality of life for adjoining neighbors, who must enduring ever increasing traffic, noise, water, and loss of privacy. Pickleball, anyone? Turf is not going to resolve this supply issue.
I believe there are solutions to our lack of land for use by athletic organizations. 1) Privatized fields and elsewhere. 2) Cooperative fields with our neighboring towns of Wilton, Weston, Easton, Fairfield and Norwalk. 3) The YMCA has a large swath of land whether Route 33 and the Merritt Pkwy meet. It has been a vacant eyesore for years.
HEALTH, SAFETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Finally, the negative consequential effects of artificial turf on human health and Mother Earth are well documented by unbiased, peer-reviewed scientific research. Turf manufacturers are working to address these issues and are making progress but they have yet to crack this nut successfully, despite marketing claims to the contrary.
Natural turf maintained well and using integrated pest management protocols and/ or organic methods can be a safe solution. Clover fields are another option.
Let the children play.
Here is a good read
https://cleanwater.org/2024/09/16/turf-artificial-harm-very-real
“safest” and “reasonable” is NOT the way to go with artificial turf. The PFAS chemicals have been proven not safe for humans nor our waterways. I’ve seen Saugatuck Elemenetary kids slipping and sliding on the little green balls during maintenace, getting them on their clothes/shoes/bodies. Also the turf gets really hot in the summer. NO to TURF
Anyone who has kids that have played soccer in westport knows that the field conditions are terrible, often unsafe and puts us at a significant disadvantage vs other towns throughout the entire state. Pristine grass fields are difficult to maintain, weather dependent and not environmentally friendly either. Turf the fields.
Excuse me? Natural grass playing fields are not “environmentally friendly” as opposed to artificial turf? Where are you getting your information?
Chemical analysis of artificial turf conducted at Yale University found 96 chemicals, 20 percent of them probable carcinogens. In addition, fake turf contains highly toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” linked to lower childhood immunity, endocrine disruption and cancer. The little black crumbs often used to soften what Vince Lombardi called “fuzzy cement” are in large part made from old tires and create further health and environmental problems.
Astroturf is billed as maintenance-free, yet it still requires upkeep and needs to be replaced in as few as 10 years. It’s costly to install—$20 per square foot—and near impossible to recycle once it does break down. The average athletic field contains approximately 40,000 pounds of plastic carpet and 400,000 pounds of infill. Its manufacture from petrochemical products contributes to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The fake product remains in the ground forever once it ends up in one of Connecticut’s already overstuffed landfills.
The bird’s-eye photo citing the “poor condition” of the grass pitch at Wakeman looks anything but. Perhaps “pristine” is an unrealistic goal for a school playing field.
And here’s a look at how fake grass causes real injuries: https://www.center4research.org/injuries-related-to-artificial-turf/
I think artificial turf fields are not good for our children or the environment. I personally find turf fields a hard surface to play on compared to the softer natural grass fields. It is not worth it if it causes more injuries.
That said, I do not understand why the Westport fields are in such a poor state. Fields are uneven or have bare spots which limits their use. Parks & Recs closes fields when other towns with grass fields do not. Last Saturday, my son went to play at Darien middle school grass field when Westport had closed all its grass field on that day. I recall last year when we only had a 1/4 of inch rain and the fields were closed, even though they were playable. When we go to other neighboring town fields for my kids games, their grass fields are well drained and in much better conditions. Why did Westport give up on grass fields?
Instead of the RTM discussing whether to ban new artificial turf fields, they should discuss what can be done to improve our grass fields. The Parks & Recs should take on this challenge and have a plan and present it for funding.
100% agree. I think we need to take a big picture view here, that includes more turf fields.
Moreover, wouldn’t it be great if turf fields can co-exist with gardens, native trees, walking paths, and more? Can we acquire private property and preserve green space in Westport that can be used for athletics and land conservation? Have we done a town-wide survey to identify property for this purpose? How is Parks and Rec taking a pro-active approach to this issue? Can we establish a land trust with this clear goal in mind?
We need to act now before all the remaining possibilities are in the hands of real estate developers.
As a past president of the WSA, I suggest (and have suggested for 25 years) a full sized soccer field (and perhaps smaller youth fields as well) be built in Winslow Park.
The full-sized field can probably be lighted. Yes, this is a financial investment that would also require the construction of parking, paid for by the Town.
Decades ago, I proposed a full sized soccer field that could be (but doesn’t have to be) designed with coils from a chiller buried beneath the site, allowing the field to be flooded in the winter for a giant community ice skating rink. Yes, this would compete with the PAL rink and of course this could evolve into yet another town wide political issue.
However, Winslow is underutilized and our children should always come first.
Most Westport citizens are unaware of the size of Winslow park, as it looks small while driving by.
The park contains 26 acres, as the site doglegs (no pun intended) further north and west, with its view hidden from the road.
I have always believed youth recreation fields and a park for dog walking can coexist.
~ Joseph Vallone, A.I.A.
I’d love to see a new community garden on the south border vs of Winslow, along the Post Road. I would NOT like to see an athletic field at Winslow, which would dramatically alter/destroy the character of Winslow.
From EHHI, “a ten-member, science-based organization composed of physicians, public health professionals and policy experts dedicated to protecting human health”:
https://www.ehhi.org/NewTurf_Final.pdf
The shortage of athletic fields in Westport is not a new problem. As then head of the Babe Ruth baseball program in the 90’s, I chaired a committee for the then First Selectman Joe Arcudi to address the shortage of baseball and softball fields. One of the solutions was to add lights to the field so that their use could be extended past dark, thereby increasing the use of the then current fields. That was roundly rejected because of pressure from adjacent neighbors who complained that they felt that they would be living next to a “sportsplex.” Fortunately, since then additional baseball/softball fields were added to the Town Farm Ball Complex on North Compo and fields were added/upgraded at Coleytown El.
Unlike the issues 30 years, ago, the explosion of not only local leagues but travel leagues in all sports have created a need for venues. I don’t think there’s an easy solution to the problem but turfing some of the fields (like they do in Norwalk, New Canaan, etc. would help, adding lights to some other fields where they are remote enough from adjacent neighbors to avoid what we went through, e.g., Compo, Town Hall, Wakeman, maybe even at Longshore, or finding some open areas like Winslow Park (assuming that there were no deed restrictions) or the Y space where the old Red Barn used to be. The problem isn’t going away, if anything, it will only get worse.
I attended the proposed anti-turf ordinance meeting this week and suggested that we are putting the cart before the horse. We have real needs across all of our athletics (my own kids have been part of everything from field hockey to soccer to lacrosse to football) and Westport is at the very beginning of a process to create a parks master plan that satisfies the needs of all residents. We have grown our youth population and many Westporters moved here for access to recreation. When we travel to other towns, we see many deficiencies in our facilities relative to others in Fairfield County, or even outside of Fairfield County. Improving our usable field space is a win for every resident. (It’s not just kids that use our fields either!!). We should not begin the process with a statement about what we can’t use to make this happen.
As a Westport Soccer Association board member and parent of two young Westport athletes, I strongly support the use and expansion of turf fields in our town. Turf fields provide reliable, year-round access for practices and games, reducing cancellations due to weather and overuse. With so many children participating in sports across multiple seasons, we need safe, consistent, and durable playing surfaces to meet the growing demand.
Importantly, there is room in our community to support both the expansion of athletic facilities and other important causes—like environmental sustainability and the Westport Garden. These priorities are not mutually exclusive. With thoughtful planning and collaboration, we can create solutions that benefit all generations of Westport residents.
As a long serving coach in the town of Westport I have a lot of pride in the sports programs that this town provides. When I compare the facilities to every other town that we visit or play against, we are way behind them on that front. It is vitally important for the development of kids in sport that they have more fields available to them.
Going back to when I first took over as the Staples girls soccer head coach, we had the most pristine grass field in the high school. It was well maintained and taken care of. Since COVID this field has been forgotten about by the town and it quickly became unplayable for our soccer programs. We’ve moved everything up to Wakeman for the benefit of our players. Without diving into the science behind all of it, if there is a safe way to employ turf fields then we should be exploring that option. I’d say that most athletes and coaches would say that they’d prefer to play on turf than grass. The grass fields in this town are not cared for enough to call them good never mind playable for Soccer.
I ask everyone to view the wider picture before making any rash decisions on this. We desperately need better facilities for the amount of great athletes we have in this town. We have the best schools, the best student athletes & the best coaches. We just need to catch up a bit with the facilities. I am very much in support of turf fields in the safest way possible for everyone.
I’m a sports enthusiast who has coached numerous youth teams, a parent of a boy & a girl that played numerous sports and a taxpayer. What I’m having a difficult time understanding is why the four non-profit organizations that utilize the towns fields continue to complain about either the lack of or the conditions of the fields yet are sitting on $4.239 million in cash & investments.
Before the town’s taxpayers have to fork over their money it should be made clear to us why these organizations are unwilling to utilize their monies to improve the towns fields that their organizations play on.
FYI: These are the latest amounts from the latest (2023) tax filings (Form 990) of what each organization is holding in cash & Investments:
1) Westport Soccer Association $1.251 million
2) Westport Baseball & Softball $1.292 million
3) Westport PAL $1.289 million
4) Friends of Parks & Rec $407 thousand
Mr. Perry- Thank you for your fact-based analysis and pointed questions. Thank you, also, for your diligent financial research. It will be very interesting to see how the named organizations reply.
Kudos to Mr. Perry. Out of the box thinking, with just facts to back it up. As pointed out so succinctly, it time for the Westport Associations to share the burden, not just the Taxpayer.
The WSA and broader youth sports community are willing to invest and collaborate on solutions.
parents of children who want turf, are your reading the science? are you willing to take a chance on their health? injuries from turf then surgeries and PT so many more kids really hurt playing youth sports, why?
Seems to me I read that FIFA required grass vs turf fields when they awarded the World Cup to the US. One would think they would know which is better for the game and player safety.
The World Cup- I forgot it is going to be in USA.
Pity nobody will be willing to fly here to watch it.
But, silver lining for all those with the new attitude… it’s all about us( USA) screw the rest of the world. ( except saudi terrorists) ) I guess American citizens and saudis, of course, can enjoy watching the World Cup in America. While the rest of the world flips us the bird and boycotts it.
What a bummer.