Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: The Safford football field will be receiving an upgrade this summer and will be replaced with an artificial turf field
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – The Safford High School football field will receive an upgrade this summer and be replaced with a new state-of-the-art artificial turf field.
According to a social media post from the Safford Unified School District, the current field is 40 years old and is in disrepair. While a cost analysis showed the price of a natural turf field to be about $1 million compared to about $1.6 million for an artificial field, the artificial field will have an added benefit of approximately $500,000 in maintenance and water savings over 20 years. Additionally, a grant of $250,000 from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) will help offset the cost. The rest of the funds will come out of the school’s capital budget.
Artificial turf proponents also point out its safety additions, including an underlayment shock pad and an organic cooling infill. The turf the school chose has an 8-year warranty and comes with a mechanical field “groomer” to maintain it. The field can be sprinkled to cool it down even further if necessary and the Echotherm infill’s long-lasting cellulose design also has cooling properties. According to the post, some examples of the turf are fields for schools including Phoenix Union, Paradise Valley, and Rio Rico, fields for the L.A. Rams and Dallas Cowboys, and the Arizona Cardinals practice field.
In addition to football, the field is also utilized for soccer, cheer, Special Olympics, marching band, and the community.
Morenci debuted its artificial turf football field last season (it also now has an artificial turf baseball field as well) to much fanfare. Longtime Valley and current Verrado High School head football coach Jeremy Hathcock coached the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets in the field’s opening game last year and had high praise for it.
“I’ve been on a lot of fields, and this field is the nicest – of course, we’re day one but I love the sand composite, not the rubber in there,” coach Jeremy Hathcock said. “It feels natural. When the kids hit they just felt like they were landing in a pillow.”
Safford High School Principal Tad Jacobson told the Gila Herald that construction of the new field is slated to begin at the end of May and last until mid-September. Scheduled home football games before the field’s completion will be played at Eastern Arizona College’s John Mickelson Field or, in the case of the Aug. 25 matchup against Pima, at Pima.
The Roughriders will still be at their old field but Pima is currently constructing its new high school and will be building a new football field and track as well. Pima Superintendent told the Gila Herald that the school is considering an artificial turf for its new football field as well. Pima is scheduled to open its new high school for the Fall 2025 semester.
