Talawanda High School Field of Dreams

What the Experts Say

Players, coaches and trainers give synthetic turf high marks for comfort, safety, bounce, speed and performance. The consistent surface is especially attractive to soccer, baseball, and field hockey players because it provides a uniform roll and bounce to the ball.

Mike Marston, Band Director:
“A turf field is an ideal surface for marching bands, providing greater opportunities for excellence in performance! The Talawanda Marching Braves chose to compete exclusively on turf fields this past season and will do the same in future seasons. If we hope to host a Talawanda Marching Band Invitational in the future, the type of field we have will be the deciding factor for other bands to attend our event. We are very excited about the future of our school district and look forward to performing on the synthetic turf field at the new Talawanda High School!”

Mike Wright, Head Football Coach:
“Having a turf field would be a great asset to our football program in so many ways. It would also be a great asset for our entire school district and community. With the construction of a new state of the art building it only makes sense to equal that with state of the art athletic facilities as well. Now is the time to make this happen, for everyone in the Talawanda Community.”

Greg Daniels, Athletic Trainer:
“I would love to see Talawanda High School get synthetic field turf. The field turf engineering and construction allows for a much softer and consistent surface, which will help reduce injuries. A natural grass field is nice, but very difficult to maintain, and when it rains the field becomes less playable and increases the potential for injuries. Having turf would allow us to play multiple contests on the surface without concern about changing field conditions.”

What Others Have to Say

Darrell Smith, TSD School Board President:
“First of all I would like to thank the committee for taking on this daunting but very rewarding task. The undertaking to give such a wonderful gift to the students of the TSD currently and for years to come is something to be proud of for sure!

For me personally, to have a sporting complex that would benefit ALL of our programs would be fantastic. I am very proud to be associated with the TSD and the many choices of activities that we are able to provide for our students. An athletic complex that would enhance these programs is something that I would certainly support in any way possible.

For our children to be able to have such a facility would certainly generate pride in our programs and our district. As extracurricular activities play an important part of a well rounded education, the enhancement of turf to our facilities would mean that we would not be limited by weather or the number of activities that we could provide to our students.

The community as a whole would benefit from the turf complex by offering additional outdoor space for a multitude of activities. With the possibility of hosting many functions from groups outside of this area, this complex would provide new revenue and bring awareness to our community and what this school district has to offer.”

Mrs. Vicki L. Brunn, Talawanda High School Principal:
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our physical education program.  We are always in need of outdoor space for our archery, softball, and other outdoor sports.  Artificial turf would allow us to be outside on many more days than we can at this point.  Our marching band and drumline would be able to use this space as well.  I am very excited about the new opportunities this would give our students!”

Reed Maltbie, Head Boy’s Soccer Coach:
“Two of the factors that dictate success in sports are confidence and skill acquisition.  Field turf provides a consistent, effective surface to allow players to acquire new skills faster and improve current skills without the nuisance of potholes, mud spots, bumps that can reduce ability.  When players improve faster they are more confident.  More skill + more confidence = more success.  Plus, from a sport science perspective, field turf has been shown over the last few years to reduce neural injuries, cranial injuries, and severe ligament tears.  It is also showing 35% to 45% less time lost to injury.  I would rather our players enjoy themselves, have a great experience, improve, and not get injured.”

Dr. Phil Cagwin, Superintendant Talawanda Schools:
“The Talawanda community has chosen wisely to invest in a new state-of-the-art high school. Also investing in a synthetic turf field would be a great way to enhance opportunities for our students, our programs, and our community. A turf field offers attractiveness, low maintenance, long life, and all weather capacity to our site. The large demand in our region will also provide opportunities for a turf field to serve as a revenue provider to our school district. A turf field will meet the needs of our school programs and community programs for many years to come, and now is the time to make this decision as we are still in the planning and design phase of this very exciting project!”