In sod we trust: Kenan Stadium goes temporarily turf-less ahead of FC series match

In preparation for the FC Series match between Manchester City and Celtic FC on July 23, Kenan Stadium’s turf field has been resurfaced with roughly 90,000 square feet of natural grass sodding. 

This is the second consecutive year that Kenan Stadium has been redone the field after last year's Chelsea FC and Wrexham AFC match. The sod — which has been growing for nearly 12 months — was installed on top of the turf, with a thin sheet of geotextile film to separate the two layers.

Earlier this year, FIFA mandated that all World Cup matches must be played on grass. The temporary sodding of Kenan Stadium comes at the same time as five U.S. stadiums prepare to host the 2026 World Cup, where they must use natural grass. 

To ensure the safety of the players for Tuesday's game, a series of rigorous tests will be used to ensure the field’s quality is ready for play. 

“There is going to be a billion dollars worth of athletes out on the field next week,” Casey Carrick, the director of athletic grounds at UNC, said. “So we want to make sure, first and foremost, that everything we are going to be providing them is safe.”

To achieve this safety standard, the grounds crew at Carolina Green — the company providing the sod installation — have regularly tested the pitch for three variables while the grass has grown. 

The first is an assessment of the field’s structural integrity by using a device that claws into the soil and rotates for a torque reading of the root system. This test is important for athlete pushback against the grass, as a field that’s too loose may buckle under the cleat of a cutting player. 

A final test evaluates pitch firmness. A device called a Clegg Hammer drops a weighted projectile onto the surface of the field to measure factors like shock continuation and softness. A final reading assesses the field’s speed, with variables like moisture content, firmness and ball roll to accurately depict how fast the field plays. 

“What [testing] does is give you some sort of baseline of where the field is at,” Chad Price, president of Carolina Green, said. “Over time you build this data and you get these ranges of where you want to be.” 

Transitioning a turf field to natural grass is familiar territory for Carolina Green. Recently, the company resurfaced Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte with a grass field ahead of the Copa America semifinal on July 10. 

Although player safety concerns are at the forefront of discussions favoring grass fields across all sports, Price believes the majority influence in soccer is simply player preference.

“The international soccer players, the highest level soccer players in the world, they want to play on natural grass,” Price said. “And it has probably more to do with the ball interaction, with the way the ball rolls and the way that they play.” 

In contrast, arguments lobbying against the use of synthetic grass for sports like football have become prominent talking points between players and the media. According to the Associated Press, studies from recent NFL seasons have shown that the risk of injury from play on artificial turf is 16 percent higher than on natural grass, including a 20 percent higher for non-contact injuries. 

On campus, half of UNC’s 30 acres of athletic fields are fitted with synthetic turf instead of its natural counterpart. This includes Kenan Stadium, which converted from artificial grass in 2019.

According to Carrick, the decision to resurface the field was over “a lot of different factors," not just finances. He said the surface opened the avenue for more UNC athletic teams to use the field year-round, and concerns over player safety haven’t outweighed those benefits.

“We follow all the studies, we watch the news like everybody else," Carrick said. "We are probably a little more in tune to the NFLPA and the complaints players are giving with artificial surfaces. But there’s nothing that has scared us right now to say we gotta do this or we gotta do that.” 

This means Tar Heel fans can reminisce about Kenan Stadium’s past greenery for one night only, before the 5-year-old turf is once again unveiled for football in the fall. 

@cadeshoemaker23

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com