East Brunswick Students Ask District To Fix Football Field Turf

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — Student-athletes and residents expressed concern over the poor condition of the East Brunswick School District’s football field, at the Board of Education meeting held last week.

Chris Smalley, a senior football player said he wanted to come to the meeting to express “extreme disappointment regarding the stadium turf.” He said the stadium was “beyond its useful life” before the two Tropical storms — Ida and Henri damaged it further.

“Anyone who has ever stepped on the field has said it's been in very poor condition. Athletes even from other schools have commented during the games, how the field is in terrible condition,” Smalley said.

Smalley said that although the East Brunswick School District website says it focuses on academics, athletics, and arts, the state of the turf is “embarrassing” and does not reflect well on the community.

“I speak for all the athletes and fans - the return to normalcy we expected has once again not occurred because of our poor planning. Our hopes to have ended our high school athletic careers on our home turf was snatched away. This should have been our year to shine coming back from COVID but instead, we have no field,” Smalley said.

Drew Morrison, a resident, spoke after Smalley and said when he recently walked around the stadium, he noticed parts where the turf was missing. “You can see as you walk across the field, all over the place, just the uneven wear and tear on the field. That’s not safe either,” Morrison.

He said while walking on the 10-yard line he heard a crackle, much like leaves in autumn. “The good news is – we've dodged a bullet. I’ve never heard of anybody who’s gotten seriously injured playing on a field with conditions like this,” Morrison said.

The resident said the Board was projecting the wrong attitude about athletics, athletes, and their families. “You stretched out an eight to 10 lifespan on a field to 15 years, with disregard to safety and mitigating plan. You guys should have anticipated, budgeted for, and had a plan in place as soon as this happened.”

Addressing the concerns of student-athletes and their families, Superintendent Victor Valeski said the school district cares about athletes.

“There's no way we could have forecasted this storm which was going to do this damage to this field,” Valeski said. He acknowledged that the district was aware that the field has run through its lifespan.

He said after the initial inspection, there could be a drainage issue under the turf that caused the problem. This issue needs to be resolved before replacing the turf.

“I understand the frustration of being a senior, I understand the frustration of being the parent of a senior who cannot play on their home stadium. I wish I could physically do something to make that different, but I cannot. We are doing the absolute best we can to expedite the process,” Valeski said.

Due to the condition of the turf, East Brunswick football players have to play their games at other sites, until further notice. Valeski said he will have more updates when the matter progresses.

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