April 5, 2016
The Vanderbilt football team enters its offseason training effort with the benefit of a new sports turf surface at the John Rich Practice Facility.
Shaw Sports Turf crews finished the two-month installation project in late March, just as Derek Mason’s Vanderbilt team concluded spring practice and began their offseason conditioning program.
“This gives our team a first-class surface to train, practice and compete on,” Mason said. “I’m excited about the new synthetic turf at the Rich Practice Facility.
“The practice field turf upgrade is a tremendous addition to our ongoing efforts to improve everything Vanderbilt student-athletes have at their disposal. This project also provides the added bonus of having similar surfaces at our stadium, outdoor practice complex, and indoor facility,” Mason added.
The 70,500-square foot Rich Facility synthetic surface virtually mirrors Dudley Field surface in Vanderbilt Stadium. Features similar to both surfaces include black end-zones with “Vanderbilt” and “Commodores” lettering, midfield and end-zone “Star V” logos and SEC logos.
The practice field also features “Anchor Down” lettering inside both 20-yard lines. The same element was removed from the Vanderbilt Stadium surface two years ago to meet NCAA requirements.
The Rich Practice Facility is located directly behind McGugin Athletics Center, just steps away from the football squad’s locker room and weight room. It also includes a Bermuda grass practice field.
The Rich Facility turf project comes just weeks after the department opened a vast expansion of the Athletic Training Room in McGugin Center. The state-of-the-art training room doubles the size of the program’s former facility, and features three hydrotherapy pools, dietary, examination and treatment rooms, two doctor offices, a conference room, and array of modernized equipment to benefit Commodore student-athletes.
