If you are considering soccer turf options for your backyard, school, park, or professional sports arena, artificial grass offers a safer, low-maintenance, attractive option. Choosing synthetic turf saves water, reduces maintenance, and removes the need for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

Benefits of Installing Artificial Soccer Turf

Choosing synthetic turf for the soccer field at your school, professional sports arena, or in your backyard provides several benefits over natural grass.

Any time you replace natural grass with artificial turf, you benefit from never again having to mow, irrigate, edge, aerate, or fertilize your soccer field. Synthetic soccer turf is always green and lush, never gets brown spots from dogs, heat, or traffic, and always looks its best with very little maintenance. While it may require a higher initial investment, you can save thousands of dollars over the life of the turf, since you will no longer have excessive irrigation needs and no longer need to purchase fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides required to keep natural grass fields green, healthy, and usable.

To estimate how much you can save on water each year, determine the size of the area where you will be installing manufactured grass instead of planting natural grass. For each square meter of that area, you can save an estimated 2,200 gallons of water per year by opting for the fake grass.

Another benefit of artificial turf is that it provides a level, even playing field that reduces tripping hazards and provides a safer field for the athletes on your team or in your family. While natural grass may need to dry out for several days before games can safely resume, the excellent drainage and lack of mud on synthetic soccer turf allow games to resume right away.

No mud and no wet blades of grass also means that little feet are not tracking mud and wet grass into your house or classroom after time on the field.

How Often Is Artificial Soccer Turf Replaced?

There are several factors involved in determining the lifespan of artificial grass. These include whether or not it was properly installed, how much traffic it receives over the years, the quality of the turf product, and whether or not regular maintenance is performed.

In a residential setting, artificial lawns usually have a lifespan of 10 to 20 years with some homeowners seeing longer lifespans with higher-quality products that were professionally installed. If you are installing a backyard soccer field that you expect to use about as much as you would use a lawn, your field’s lifespan will likely fall into this timeframe.

In professional sports arenas, parks, and schools where artificial turf fields are used by many athletes daily, the lifespan of the soccer turf will likely be between five and 10 years.

Backyard Soccer Turf Installation Tips

If you are considering artificial soccer turf for a backyard soccer field, it is best to have the turf professionally installed. This is the best way to ensure a level, even playing field that is safer for those playing on it. The longevity of your investment is also dependent on the quality of the installation, so it is worth paying professionals to create your backyard field.

When deciding how large to make your backyard field, keep in mind that the recommended field size for young players is 20 yards long by 15 yards wide. If you do not have this kind of space, you can always install a smaller practice field.

You will also need to determine if you have the space for one goal or two goals. You can always use smaller goals to accommodate the space you have, but if you or your little ones are training to play on a team or hoping to be a professional player one day, it is best to stick with regulation-size goals. For youth, this is six feet tall by 18 feet wide. For adults, this is eight feet tall by 24 feet wide.

When choosing a spot for your soccer field, keep in mind that wayward balls may be flying through the air. You will, of course, want a soccer field for kids to be in your line of sight so that you can keep an eye on them while they play. However, you might not want it to be right next to your outdoor living areas if you think you might entertain on your patio while the kids play on the field. You will at least want to warn your guests to keep an eye out for wayward soccer balls.