Chicago, IL, September 6, 2006--FieldTurf Tarkett scored big for Chicago's underprivileged children today, announcing their support of the Chicago Fire's 'Kicks for Kids' program. FieldTurf Tarkett's donation will provide disadvantaged youths with tickets for an MLS Chicago Fire soccer match at Bridgeview Stadium.
"FieldTurf Tarkett is delighted to contribute to this wonderful program,'' said Jim Froslid, FieldTurf Tarkett's national manager, soccer division. "FieldTurf doesn't just build fields and leave, we also care about the communities, and want to continue to make contributions to the quality of life in these areas. We are committed to providing opportunities for youths around the globe and are looking forward to providing more and more opportunities for underprivileged youths to play their favorite sports on a safe surface.''
With every community FieldTurf installation that goes into the ground, it is FieldTurf Tarkett's hope that kids all around the neighborhood and surrounding communities benefit from a state-of-the-art playing surface and the ability to play sports at anytime.
In addition to its growing popularity in the college ranks, FieldTurf has already established itself as the turf of choice in the National Football League. Twenty of the NFL's 32 teams currently use FieldTurf at their stadiums and/or their practice facilities. Also, three Major League Baseball teams will use FieldTurf at their stadiums in 2006. FieldTurf was also the first artificial turf product approved by FIFA (soccer's world governing body) for World Cup play.
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of all NFL players who were asked to rank the league's 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, such as playability, safety, etc. The NFL players ranked FieldTurf fifth out of 32, and amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 15 of the league's 19 natural grass fields.
FieldTurf is the result of years of research--evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass. Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion--allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.
