Home turf

View full image

After 105 years of playing on real grass, the Yale football team will open its season at the Yale Bowl this September on a synthetic surface called FieldTurf. Athletic officials say the new field, which was funded by donations, will be a better, more consistent playing surface and much easier to keep prepared for games. Athletics director Vicky Chun has also suggested that the turf will facilitate other potential uses for the Bowl, including concerts and high school championship games. Some local environmentalists have opposed the change, raising questions about possible health hazards in the turf materials. Since Yale’s switch, Brown has the only remaining natural-turf football field in the Ivy League.