Sports
Ocean City High School Unveils Artificial Turf Field; Football Team Plays First Home Game
The ribbon-cutting for the field took place Friday morning.
Ocean City, NJ -- More than 2,000 students of all grade levels in the Ocean City High School district turned out for the ribbon-cutting at Carey Stadium Friday morning, as Ocean City opened its new turf field.
Work on the organic cork infill was wrapped up in August, and the high school football team opened the field with a scrimmage against Eastern Regional, with Rowan University's Brown and Gold scrimmage the following day.
The team played its first regular season game on the field Friday night in a 21-7 loss to Cedar Creek, according to nj.com.
Cedar Creek's Kamal Reed became the first player to score on the new turf, on a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Jesse Milza threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nazir Chapman and Jeremy Taylor scored on a 17-yard run for Cedar Creek. Ocean City scored on a pass in the fourth quarter.
Ocean City (0-2) hits the road on Friday night, Sept. 30, to face West Windsor-Plainsboro South (1-2) at 7 p.m. Ocean City's next home game is Oct. 7, 6 p.m., against Absegami (1-2).
Cedar Creek (3-0) visits Camden (1-1) on Friday night, Sept. 30, 7 p.m.
Earlier this year, Ocean City Council awarded a $449,900 contract to the LandTek Group of Amityville, N.Y., for installation and a $494,721 to FieldTurf USA Inc of Calhoun, Ga., for the purchase of materials. The total cost of the project was $1.2 million.
That approval came about a year after Ocean City canceled its plans to install an artificial turf field at Carey Stadium over safety concerns.
Instead, the field was made using all-natural cork as opposed to crumb rubber that may have been linked to the diagnosis of cancer in 38 college soccer players, specifically goalies.
During the process, there was a change order to install a cork-like fabric, which can be used to absorb additional impact, such as from a shotput, according to the Ocean City Sentinel.
The attached images from the ribbon-cutting were provided by Ocean City officials.
