In an effort to provide all the education and resources needed to better understand the impact of a possible turf field ban happening in Santa Clara County and the City of Sunnyvale, Cal North would like to provide the following information.
On April 14, 2024, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to study the ramifications of artificial turf on county land, with Board President Susan Ellenberg and Supervisor Cindy Chavez voting no. The proposal came from Supervisor Otto Lee, who raised concerns about the negative environmental and health effects of the materials.
Read the full article Santa Clara County to study ban on artificial turf by the San Jose Spotlight.
On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors are planning on voting to ban artificial turf.
Cal North DOES NOT support that ban, as it will limit the field space for Cal North member clubs and leagues to function properly during fall and spring seasons, not to mention summer tournaments. The ban will also bring implications not only to the soccer community, but to the rest of youth sports organizations that operate on artificial turf fields during certain times of the year. The ban of turf fields will additionally bring higher costs on field rentals, as maintenance and repair will be an issue due to the already high demand from youth sports organizations. In addition, it immediately puts a new eight field facility planned for the Santa Clara Fairgrounds at risk.
We are asking our soccer community to please visit the Advocating for Synthetic Turf on Athletic Field Surfaces in Sunnyvale website for more information, and to NOT SUPPORT THE BAN. There are several ways that you can help this ban to not go through, visit the website to see all the possible ways you can support your soccer community. Please send an email to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors at BoardOperations@cob.sccgov.org to express your concern and to oppose the proposed ban.
The Game Day Facilitator oversees recreational youth soccer matches to make sure there is a safe, fair and enjoyable soccer environment for players, coaches and spectators.
