Anyone who attended the boys soccer state tournaments at Juan Diego High School last month know how atrocious the playing surface at Soaring Eagle Stadium really was. What was once a pristine field a year earlier was suddenly an embarrassment.
Those problems are a thing of the past.
Juan Diego football coach John Colosimo announced that the school is installing Sports Turf in the stadium this summer. Construction is set to begin Monday, and the school is hopeful it will be finished when girls soccer season begins in early August.
The Catholic school in Draper is the third high school in Utah to install the synthetic turf.
There are three different brands of Field Turf, and Juan Diego is installing Sportexe. South Summit installed Field Turf last year, and Logan is installing Sprint Turf this summer.
"We felt Sportexe provided us with the best product, responsive service and tremendous interest in our site," said Colosimo. "The major concern about synthetic turf in the past has been injuries, but the new style turf has shown not to increase injury rates."
Overuse because of football, soccer and lacrosse caused the grass to disappear in many large portions of the field. The Utah Salt Ratz men's soccer team also calls Juan Diego High School home, and the Utah Spiders women's soccer team has as well in past years.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com