The Rock is a historical stadium at Quincy University with many features, however it is the newer features that might need to be updated. The newer feature in question is the turf on the field.

Turf is beneficial in helping maintain lower maintenance costs as well as being versitile in bad weather. While there are benefits to turf, there will be negatives, mainly the risk of injury when the turf gets older.

The stadium made the switch from grass to turf in 2015 so that baseline 8–10-year lifespan is approaching quicky. However, the factor to really consider is the number of teams that use the field on a daily basis.

In total the Hawks have four teams that use the turf for games, practices, and off-season work. This constant use will lower the life expectancy by causing wear at the seams or matting down the turn and rubber making the field less safe to play on.

“It definitely could be more important if you replace it more frequently because the average lifespan is already only 8-10 years and whenever you have multiple teams practicing on it and competing on it, that can potentially decrease the life expectancy especially it can start to pull apart at the seams or become really contact or really are which could cause further injury,” Josh Miley, athletic trainer, said.

It isn’t just the turf itself that is starting to go but the ground with it. Multiple spots are uneven on the field leaving a very unsafe playing field. Luckily the number of non-contact injuries in the past years has been minimal, but would it take an increase to get the change?

“The turf feels slick because of how compact it has gotten over the years, but the biggest thing for me would have to be how uneven the field itself is. Having to worry about where I’m stepping because I don’t know if the ground will be consistent is not someone I want to worry about when practicing and playing,” Mason Washington said.

Legends Stadium, home of the soccer teams, did just receive new turf on their field so a change in scenery should be in store next for The Rock since it does house the most teams compared to any field on campus.

“It would be nice to get new turf on the field. It has gotten pretty old and I’m sure it is about time to replace it, plus it would be cool to see what they can do to switch it up the field concept we have now is pretty dull hopefully if they did change it, they can really mix it up,” Carson Cathey said.

With the football team coming off a solid year and sprint making the playoffs The Rock should receive the upgrades it has needed, plus it could be a solid way to bring students in on it and let them design concepts of what they think would be cool for the next field.