Hi Bret,

Thank you for the time and effort you put into researching this issue
and your thoughtful comments. I am preparing my presentation to the
Board and your insight and information has been most helpful.

Regards,

Ahmad Sheikholeslami

Bret Simon wrote:
> Dear School Board and City Council Members,
>
> Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful consideration of our playing
> fields situation in Menlo Park. As a parent of two children in our
> public schools and a youth coach in several sports I have seen first
> hand the frustration of playing and practicing on poor fields, not
> having field space available for our children or worse, having to cut
> children out of youth programs due to lack of field space. So, I
> believe this is an important issue.
>
> My "day job" is as a coach at Stanford. In that position and in
> similar coaching positions in other parts of the country I have been
> involved in the development of both natural grass and artificial
> surface fields. I believe that our school board and city council
> should be very cautious in accepting research on either type of field
> as much of it is generated by people within the industry. In fact the
> newer artificial surface fields have only recently (last 5 years) been
> installed in great numbers around the country and therefore some of
> the issues haven't been studied fully.
>
> I have discussed at length the environmental, usage and cost issues
> with our assistant athletic director, Dave Schinski, who has taken the
> lead in developing both types of fields on our campus and in other
> locations. We believe that there are environmental issues that are
> difficult to weigh against each other. We also believe that for
> playability and safety the newest types of artificial surface are very
> good. The obvious negative is up front cost.
>
> I have attached a document which outlines the issues and some of the
> positives and negatives. As a coach and a parent I am not an
> automatic advocate for either type of surface. We do have some
> excellent natural grass fields on the Stanford campus. But we are
> able to spend the funds necessary to build championship level grass
> fields, limit usage and maintain them with field experts. The cost of
> that maintenance is approximately $40,000 per field per year.
>
> In a perfect world a beautiful natural grass field would be an
> outstanding situation. Unfortunately, given the number of children
> and sports programs and the limited space available I don't believe
> that to be a realistic option. Therefore, I believe that an
> artificial surface is definitely worthy of your consideration.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Bret

-- 
Ahmad Sheikholeslami, P.E.
Facility Planner/Program Manager
Menlo Park City School District
181 Encinal Ave. Atherton, Ca 94027	
Phone: 650-321-7140 ext 614
Fax: 650-321-7184