Photo Credit: Beals Alliance, Folsom, Calif.
The multiple-use sports field is the Swiss Army Knife in your sports-facility arsenal. No matter what sport or event you're talking about--soccer, football, even festivals--that type of field has the flexibility to take it on. No area has more use, no surface sees more foot traffic, and sadly, no facility gets less rest.
The fact that many fields see games scheduled back-to-back--and often end-to-end if the area is large enough--means the fields have to bounce back after a rainstorm and be ready for play. Let's face it: a facility with games almost every day of the week doesn't have much wiggle room in terms of scheduling. It can't afford to stay muddy for days on end.
While many rec and park districts are starting to implement the use of one or more synthetic-turf facilities (which have the advantage of mechanical drainage systems, making them ready for play almost immediately after rain), the vast majority of the municipal multi-use fields are composed of natural grass.
