'Scorching' artificial turf burns shoe soles

Soccer players faced melted shoes.

Recent temperatures in the Canadian city of Toronto soared to such a level that players in the North Toronto Soccer League were complaining that the artificial turf on the pitches was melting the bottoms of their shoes and breaking down the adhesive holding the footwear together.

According to John Hyland, a technical director with the league, the summer has been 'unreal', and players were forced to wait until the early evening before attempting to play on the artificial pitches.

Mr Hyland suggested that it might be necessary to water synthetic fields in an effort to keep their temperatures down.

"When I volunteered with the Pan Am Games, that was one of the things we had to do," he said. "At Varsity Stadium, we had to water the turf so it could cool down. If the turf wasn't watered, players were having issues with their shoes."

Toronto's public health department investigated the artificial turf pitches and found that they were hotter than asphalt during the hottest part of the day. The temperature on one field was measured at 95°C.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page of the October 2016 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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