Dried out grounds bring hard times

[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 4  30 April - 14 May 2007 ]

Footballers of all skill levels are among those affected by Victoria’s persistent drought. Voice ­writers Nerissa Hannink and David Scott tap into University of Melbourne expertise on the ­implications – ranging from injuries caused by harder playing surfaces to providing safe, water ­efficient and sustainable turf.

Melbourne is the spiritual home of Australian Rules Football, held in thrall to ‘footy’ seven months of the year. But it is also the capital of a State suffering severe drought, with water reserves sinking to crisis levels. The inevitable garden watering restrictions may be taken as bad enough but, more critically to footballers and their fans, grounds are being left unwatered. Where once turf was lush and green it is now brown and dying in dirt hard as concrete.

Such is the drought’s impact that only one Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) – the Ovens and Murray Football League – kicked off its season before Easter. Some, including the Bendigo, Geelong and Peninsula leagues, will wait until the first weekend in May in a bid to get their parched grounds up to a suitable playing standard.

Players, too, are in the firing line. Forced to play out their weekend matches on harder grounds, they risk an increased rate of injury. Dr Peter Brukner, an Associate Professor in Sports Medicine at the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, says harder grounds are having a noticeable impact on players.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of traumatic injuries due to falling on hard surfaces. Overuse injuries are also on the increase – hard surfaces are a known risk factor.”

“If hard grounds are going to be a permanent feature, then the code’s governing bodies may have to look at rule changes to minimise the impact, especially at the non-elite level,” says Dr Brukner.

It could be left to the players themselves to protect their body from the rigors of a season played on harder grounds, he says.

“Generally the body adapts to increases in stress – such as training and playing on harder grounds – as long as that change is gradual. So provided that they can gradually adapt they should be okay. They get into trouble if they are used to training and playing on a softer surface and suddenly have to train or play on a harder surface, for example Telstra Dome.”

Professor Geoff Connellan (Department of Resource Manage-ment, Burnley campus), has been involved with research into providing safe, water efficient and sustainable turf surfaces. He says the sustainability of turf surfaces has become a significant challenge for many sporting organisations as a result of drought and water restrictions.

“Securing the water supplies of these community assets has become a priority. The good news is that we expect that turf surfaces in the future will be able to be grown and maintained successfully with lower quality water.”

Professor Connellan alongside others from the University of Melbourne and supported by the AFL, is also completing a major study into various grass species and their potential influence on player injury. In particular, researchers have been interested in the role of ground conditions in contributing to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.

Dr Brukner has welcomed the research, particularly given the recent rise in injuries. However he says football leagues could even consider looking beyond just drought tolerant turf, and investigate synthetic surfaces.

“It was always thought that synthetic surfaces were associated with increased injury risk, but with the newer surfaces this may not be the case. The US experience has shown that there are no more injuries when their football is played on artificial surfaces. Certainly hockey, which over the past 20 years had gone from being a grass sport to a synthetic surface sport, has not had any significant rise in injuries.”

Sport Development Manager at the University of Melbourne, Mr Rod Warnecke, says that while the University has decided against putting down synthetic turf at present, some of its sporting teams have played on synthetic pitches.

“Football Federation Victoria has a number of pitches around the Darebin area and our University soccer teams have played friendly matches on these surfaces. Their general reaction was very positive.

“The players said the behaviour of the ball on the surface was pretty true to how it would behave on a normal grass pitch. And after playing on it, they certainly weren’t as worried about potential injuries, they felt it was quite safe.”

However, convincing the governing bodies of our favourite sports that alternative turf is part of the game’s long term future could be difficult. “It is hard to imagine the heavier contact sports such as AFL and rugby changing,” says Dr Brukner.

Further details on turf projects at Burnley can be obtained from Associate Professor David Aldous ­daldous@unimelb.edu.au and Professor Geoff Connellan geoffc@unimelb.edu.au.