The South Broward High School football team kicked off its 2025 athletic season with a win-win. Not only did the Bulldogs defeat the Deerfield High School Bucks 21-14, they did so on their new state-of-the-art synthetic field.
The field was unveiled during a ribbon cutting ceremony before kick-off, with several Broward County Public Schools representatives in attendance, including BCPS District 1 School Board Member Maura Bulman, BCPS Director of Athletics and Student Activities Patricia Brown, BCPS Athletic Director Roderick “Rocky” Gillis, BCPS South Regional Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Alan Strauss, SBHS Principal Alexander Francois, SBHS Assistant Principal Timothy Winburn, and SBHS Athletic Director Lee “Boomer” Bray. All gathered at center field to christen the move from natural grass to synthetic turf. For Bray, the new field was eight years in the making.
“I felt like it was my baby,” said Bray. “I was showing pictures around, and my friends all laughed because I was acting like it was my new born baby.”
The new field was part of a $3.6-million-dollar initiative by Broward County Public Schools to fund the replacement of grass fields. SBHS was the first of nine schools across the district slated to receive funds to replace with brightly-colored artificial grass on their sports fields.
Next in line to receive the makeover are Deerfield Beach High School and Dillard High School.
SBHS received between $800,000 to $100,000,000 for the new field. Construction started in late May of the last school year and continued right up till the first week of the 2025-26 school year. Bray was worried that the field wouldn’t be finished in time for the school’s first home football game. It was completed just in the nick of time.
“Nervous isn’t the word I would use,” said Bray. “I was anxious. But the company did extremely well. BCPS picked a great company.”
Senior and seasoned Bulldog receiver Jamari Ritter played on it during the home game against the Bucks. He liked it.
“The turf is different from other turfs,” said Ritter. “It’s smoother. You don’t really catch that much turf burn. It felt good.”
For decades, natural grass has been the traditional surface for sports fields and recreational areas in Broward County. But, real grass is difficult and expensive to maintain. SBHS’s field was among those identified as having significant issues with deterioration, making it a prime candidate for replacement. In the past four years, SBHS’s grass needed to be replaced three times.
“It was a constant battle to get it maintained, ”said Bray “The county is short-staffed in that department so it wouldn’t get mowed as much as it should be or fertilized and watered.“
SBHS senior Emilio Francia plays for the Bulldog Boys Soccer Team and is excited to test out the new turf. He’s been on the team since his freshman year and says the deterioration of the grass field caused problems when the team played.
“On some days it was better than others, especially when it rained. It would be very muddy and dirty and really bumpy, not a level surface.” said Francia.
But he said the boys soccer team could deal with it because he and his team were constantly training on it, so they were used to its imperfections.
“The aspects of playing on it were good, ‘cause we were always training on it, so we were used to the field, more so than our opponents,” said Francia “But now that it’s turf field, I feel it’s just better overall for everyone.“
Known professionally as AstroTurf, the fields are made up of synthetic plastic fibers that mimic the appearance and feel of natural grass. The fibers are tufted into a backing material and coated to provide color and UV resistance. Although it can withstand heavy use and adverse weather with minimal maintenance, they are not maintenance free.
“Obviously they do different things instead of mowing it,” said Bray. “They have a brush machine that brushes it. You have to just stay on top of it; make sure it’s even.”
Every one and a while, the field may need to be and care must be taken after each game to ensure it stays clean.
“No tape from the players’ scraps, gum, or food,” said Bray.
However there are some negatives, especially when it comes to playing on it. For example, falling and sliding on the field hurts much more due to the pebbles in the infill. Because of the nature of sliding on plastic versus soft grass, sustained injuries, known as ‘turf burn’, can be much worse. Francia has experienced injuries on both types of fields and says turf is “way worse.” He also says the ball also moves much faster on the synthetic turf.
“The ball has more momentum,” he said. “It moves smoothly, and it just keeps the momentum going.”
Consequently he has to run faster to catch the ball. Although he understands why the school had to change to AstroTurf, he still prefers a grassfield.
“I just like the feeling of playing on the grassfield better,” said Francia “It’s just a personal preference.”
But, according to Bray the new field is here to stay.
“The Broward County School system will save thousands and thousands of dollars on maintenance because they won’t have to replace the grass, mow the grass, water the grass, so it’s all a very big money saver,” said Bray.
“Astroturf fields can last anywhere from eight to 15 years” said Bray. And with high-quality products and proper maintenance, this can extend to 20 years or more. The quality of the turf and installation, the intensity and frequency of use, and the consistency of maintenance all influence the field’s lifespan.
”As far as the field how long it lasts, you gotta do maintenance on it, yearly maintenance,” said Bray ” But, you keep it in good shape, it lasts for a long time. But you gotta do the maintenance.”
