The new turf at Bill Buxton Stadium is ready for the football and soccer season as athletes have already gotten to practice and play on the new surface.

The middle of the field features the Storm’s new logo, and the end zones have been updated with new writing. The new turf is synthetic and has a concussion pad underneath to help prevent head injuries. 

Head coach Matt Jeter talked about the new turf’s advantages and the team’s preparation for the season.

“The new turf is beautiful. I think it gives us an advantage for all sports to put our kids on a field that they deserve,” Jeter said.

The football team had been practicing on the grass fields near the softball field during preseason. 

Coach Jeter said there is a difference between practicing on the grass fields versus the new turf.

“The grass fields served its purpose, and whether it takes 10 days or five days, we’re just going to keep on grinding and going out to the grass fields until they get it taken care of. After we got the new turf it took a day or two to get acclimated,” he said.

The men’s and women’s soccer teams have also had a chance to get on the new turf. The men are now 4-1 after losing 2-0 to Graceland University. They did pick up wins against Knox College and Carleton College at home earlier last week.

The men practiced on the grass fields beside fraternity row during the preseason but are now back training and playing on the new turf. Junior Matt Hasken talked about his first impressions of the new turf.

“Before we got to train on it, the overall looks of it were nice. We got onto it for our first practice, and it was a bit of a rough practice because the turf wasn’t set yet,” said Hasken. “Now that the turf’s settling down, it’s definitely nicer than the old field.” 

Football and soccer players have both talked about having to break in the new turf, but it seems to have done so during practices and games. Hasken has been playing on both turf and grass regularly his entire soccer career.

“It was a lot different, especially since it had rained a few times and we tore up the grass pitch playing on it, so when you get to go from that to the new turf field where you can settle the ball down, it was a lot better for the team,” said Hasken. Training on grass has not affected The Storm, as they have a strong record as they go to an away game against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Friday. The men hope to make a second consecutive A-R-C tournament appearance at the end of November.