Benefield: Windsor High School faces fight over damaged athletic field surface

It’s got the makings of a turf war. And a battle Windsor High School didn’t ask for and doesn’t want.

The discovery of the failure of the school’s $2 million MondoTurf synthetic playing surface, coupled with a similar situation in Turlock, has school and district officials girding for a fight over where kids will play and why the field didn’t live up to expectations.

Head football coach Tom Kirkpatrick was told Monday the field at Windsor was unsafe to play on - it failed a compaction test and is providing no give. He’s moved his practices to a neighboring grass field. Friday night’s home opener against Petaluma was moved to Cardinal Newman High School.

Girls soccer coach Mark Archembault has his team running drills but no game-intensity action on the turf.

But those moves don’t address the bigger issue - when will Windsor’s $2 million investment be fixed and who is going to pay?

“We do think it is a warranty issue and we will be involved with Mondo in trying to have them resolve this issue for us,” Windsor Unified Superintendent Steve Jorgensen said. “We expect rapid response from them.”

The clock is ticking.

After a frustrating wait, Jorgensen heard back from MondoTurf Friday morning. The field representative vowed to get up to speed on Windsor’s field and be in touch Monday, Jorgensen said.

When I reached Latasha Pittman, MondoTurf’s director of marketing and communication on Thursday, she thought I was calling about Turlock Unified School District, not Windsor.

That’s where the level of concern gets turned up a notch.

In an eerily similar situation, Turlock Unified School District closed a high school stadium indefinitely this week when their field was also found unsafe. Same failed compaction test last spring, same final determination this week that the field was unplayable. Turlock officials have also expressed frustration with MondoTurf’s response.

“Right now, we’re fighting with them,” Turlock High athletic director Mike Brown told The Modesto Bee. “We’re at their mercy. We can’t do anything because it would void the warranty. It’s frustrating.”

When I described Windsor’s situation to MondoTurf’s Pittman, she said she had no knowledge of it.

“They are welcome to call the 800 number,” she said.

You can hear the frustration in Jorgensen’s voice. He’s entering his third year as superintendent. It’s safe to say he didn’t think he’d be addressing a total breakdown of the turf seven years after installation.

Pittman said a typical warranty for a playing field is eight years, but Brown told the Bee he expected the lifespan to be closer to 10 to 15 years.

Windsor Unified School District officials look to be well within their right to be outraged at not getting a good deal for the $2 million voter-improved Measure B investment. But warranties can be tricky - mess with the original product and the guarantees can be voided. So school officials might be stuck in a waiting game. A game that leaves teams scrambling to rearrange schedules, squads without home field advantage and boosters without gate and concession revenue.

And solutions are expensive.

Suctioning out the crumb rubber bits that give the turf its bounce can cost approximately $50,000. That price tag does not include the cost of replacing the material. The fill that’s on the field now? It’s apparently only available in Italy.

The good news, if there is any in this situation, is that the blades - those green faux grass pieces - are in good shape, according to athletic director Jeff Hardie. But still the Jaguars wait for answers.

Hardie applauded Cardinal Newman officials for offering up their field for a league rival’s use. As generous as Newman has been, clearly that arrangement can’t go on. The football team has another home game scheduled for Sept. 23, and the girls soccer team plays its first home game in their North Bay League opener against Maria Carrillo High Sept. 13. And that does not take into account practice.

“It’s pretty rock solid. There is not much give to it,” Archembault said of the field.

The fact that another school district is going through the same situation puts MondoTurf on a seat that is twice as hot.

“The spotlight is becoming brighter,” Jorgensen said. “We are trying to get some answers and move as quickly as we can.”

Down in Turlock, Pittman said MondoTurf is “working with the administration,” but she said she could not provide a timeline “as to how soon we can get that repaired.”

That doesn’t bode well for Windsor.

Commence the turf war.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”