Why dont High Schools buy tarps for the infields.

[dalemurphy3]

Ok this is my minor High School Rant. But I wonder how many schools have tarps and why more do not.

Every year we have the same issue the spring rain comes and games and scrimmages are canceled. We raise money for every thing else, why not a darn $3,000 dollar tarp?? My school raises 19,000 or 20,000 to go to go to Florida every year so we can get in some early good comp games, yet we cant hardly get a home game in due to the rain. Seems to me if you are going to have a spring sport a darn tarp should be right up there with chalk. Crap how much does a pallet of field dry cost??

Stop the Madness, we have the technology!! Yes this should have been put in the rants but I'm serious, it rains every spring folks.

 

[Irish196]

Totally agree! We don't go south to play and haven't had a game or scrimmage yet. We start next week which already looks horrible weather wise. Last year we played 20 games. I bet we don't even get that in this season. Unlike your daughter's school, I know the $ would never be there for a tarp. Heck the $ isn't even there for a JV team-23 girls on varsity but that is "not enough interest" to fund a jv team. It is sad for girls who think they are going to play and see no playing time all season.

 

[brownsfan]

I'm used to it as this is my 7th year. But I'll have to give out HC a lot of credit, this year our schedule is loaded with away games our first three weeks. A tarp would be nice, but it wouldn't be enough based on where our field is located.

But I do agree, NE Ohio HS's should have tarps for their fields. But then question becomes, who's responsible for putting them on and off?

 

[Basehitgirl]

It would be helpful in certain situations. It certainly would not hurt the situation. My DD is going to be in high school next season, and I am personally going to start raising funds for a tarp for next season.

 

[sftball follower]

better start raising funds to find the number of people needed to put tarp on, and remove from field.

 

[daboss]

Get the tarp and they will come help!!! If they don't they don't care and don't deserve the attention by anyone including the athletic dept.

 

[CARDS]

I noticed a lot of schools had tarps for the baseball fields but not for their fastpitch fields. I guess they do not want the pitching area to get eroded who knows...

 

[wow]

Best thing to do is to south. When I say south I mean south of Akron. Weather is SO much different this time of the year. Mansfield and points south was 70 degrees plus this past week. Southern Ohio hit close to 80. Tarps will help the infield. But the outfield is still a swamp!

 

[coachjwb]

Why can't the team put a tarp on the field any time it looks like it could rain before the next time they're on it, and then take it off the next time they use it. Colleges do it, why can''t high schools??

 

[CoachB25]

Not from Ohio but we have a tarp and spent some good $$$ to get one. It is worthless. The first year, it was ok but one major problem is where do you go with the water off of the tarp. A baseball diamond has a mound and generally the diamond is higher than the outside areas. Although I would argue that a softball field should be the same, I rarely seen one where the infield is higher than the surrounding ground. Also, our tarp is worthless because after that first year, field mice at holes in our tarp and so, when it rains, the water seeps under everywhere. I tried the second year to keep up with the mending but I could not keep up. We are out in the sticks so keep that in mind.

Secondly, you have to keep in mind that HS maintenance crews will not touch that tarp. For a HS team, you can have 20 boys on the varsity show up to remove it. Twelve girls on the softball varsity will go airborne on certain days trying to remove that tarp. Believe me, I've seen it. Since the maintenance crew will not touch that tarp, when you remove the tarp after the girls get down there to do so and before your game, you have to also have the crew to work the diamond up and line it.

Some other things you need to think about with a tarp. How are you going to hold that tarp down? We use sand bags but they rot over time. Those "stakes" don't work as well as some think. We tried the plastic buckets but they cracked over time and can be too heavy for some of the girls to carry. Where are you going to store those sandbags? What is the highest you think you've seen a young lady picked up and thrown by the wind? Believe me, I've seen a height of about 9 feet once. Trying to put a tarp on or off with the wind is seriously dangerous. Have you ever seen mold on the bottom of a tarp. Be careful, you can get into trouble if players are handling that tarp with that mold. (I saw this at another field and not ours.)

I'll wrap up by saying that we had the option to put our tarp on this week. We decided not to .

 

[Chad Strahler]

CoachB25 is spot on. We done same last year. I donated a tarp from my work and it was awful with exactlyy what CoachB25 says. We decided to say screw the tarp all together.

 

[CARDS]

I had this set up for our outdoor practice field that I got from Lowes and WW Granger. (If you shop online you could save a little money). Four parents or six players can set it up or take it off in less than a half hour.
I used this stuff for four years in a semi wooded area and never had any mold issues. In the winter I would just store the stuff in our softball equipment trailer.

QT 1 80x80 Silver HD UV protected tarp $700
QT 2 16x20 HD Silver UV Protected tarps for pitchers mound and Home plate area (optional) $50 each
100 twist in anchors $100
2 36" curved squeegee $25 each
We just folded the tarp up when not in use but, if you want to roll it up a piece of 24" by 30 PVC storm drain pipe $300-$400
$1500 max or $1800 if you want to get SHD Tarps

These tarps are used in Trucking to protect loads,so they are used in a lot of wear and tear situations in all climate situations.Some people use them in camping prior to setting up tents or, to cover pools in the winter.

Couple pictures of teams that have something similar

 

[coachjwb]

Having a crowned field definitely helps. It also helps if you rake the field and even things out after games. I have seen both the sandbags and buckets used on tarps, and usually they were stored in a shed, though I have also seen them in dugouts. I get what you're saying about them being potentially dangerous, but it's dangerous playing on a wet field as well. I have also seen it where just the pitcher's circle and home plate were covered since those areas get dug out a lot, and the smaller tarps are of course easier to handle. But both the college team my daughter played on and the one she helped coach, the players (with a little help from the coaches at times) were able to put them on and take them off with no issue.

 

[Maxx]

If schools/coaches took more time taking care of their field and invested their money into adding a 1/4" of infield mix/conditioner to their field every year instead of a tarp, you'd be amazed how much better shape the field would be in.

 

[CoachB25]

Maxx, I hope all is well. We have had the money and have made a request for more dirt since school began. My JV field is horrible. It looks like a lake now and I should just put some bass in there. Believe it or not, we still don't have that dirt and now the reason (excuse) is that it would take the field crew a day to spread it and then another day to dig up and replant the base pegs, pitcher rubber and home plate. Unbelievable.

 

[kelbot]

I'd consider any and all options at this point. My DD is just a 7th grader, but they've only been able to play once in 3 tries and cancelled 3 scrimmages. I'll save my rant about the prioritization of the baseball fields for another time.

 

[CoachB25]

We have games today. The forecast for us is light rain starting at noon and then thunderstorms by 4. Typical BUT you have to always keep in mind that not all weather forecast are accurate. LOL (Disregard that forecast. It has already started to sprinkle.)

 

[Louuuuu]

We decided to say screw the tarp all together.

... Well, if stakes don't work, I don't think your idea will either.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

Having had the opportunity this weekend to help move one of these I understand why they are seldom used - And why we are seeing more and more turf fields -

 

[mike_dyer]

I'll save my rant about the prioritization of the baseball fields for another time.

That's different.

It's for boys.

That makes it a lot more important..