The number of artificial fields in Maine is on the rise, and so is the number of teams that practice and play their home games on smooth surfaces ideal for passing, shooting and ball-handling. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Krista Chase didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.
Last September, she took her Mt. Ararat field hockey team on the road to face neighboring rival Brunswick. The Eagles, who play on artificial turf, hadn’t practiced on the type of grass field that was awaiting them across the Androscoggin River. They lost, 2-1.
This year, Mt. Ararat opened the season on Camden Hills’ grass surface. The Eagles won, 6-0. They were ready. Chase made sure of it.
“It was ugly (in 2022), it was a terrible game,” Chase said. “(We) practiced on grass the three days before we went and played (Camden Hills). … I was more prepared, and we were just fine.”
It’s a situation that faces all turf teams in field hockey. The number of artificial fields in Maine is on the rise, and so is the number of teams that practice and play their home games on smooth surfaces ideal for passing, shooting and ball-handling. Games on grass, where the action is slower and the behavior of the ball less predictable, become a change of pace for those teams, and one that can be difficult to handle.
Mt. Ararat field hockey coach Krista Chase speaks with her team after a 2022 game at Messalonskee. “It’s easy to get up for turf games, the ball flies, everyone plays their best, it’s more fun to watch, it’s more fun to coach,” she says.” Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
“It’s just different. And there’s also a mental aspect to it, too. It’s easy to get up for turf games, the ball flies, everyone plays their best, it’s more fun to watch, it’s more fun to coach,” Chase said. “But we have to be careful. While most of my games are on turf this year, there are several, and a few that might be very important games, that are on grass. So we have to really plan carefully for those.”
Grass teams used to a more sluggish pace also have to acclimate to a sped-up game when they play on an artificial surface. But for a skilled team, that’s less daunting of an adjustment.
“It’s not as difficult. I guess it just depends on the team and the personnel,” said Gorham Coach Becky Manson. “For us, we’re a very fast team, so we can adjust to (turf) quite quickly.”
Grass used to be the standard surface in Maine field hockey, with only a handful of turf fields available in the state. That’s changed in recent years. At least 27 programs now play their home games on artificial turf fields, including 16 who have made the switch to turf since 2018. Ten have done so since 2021.
Twenty-six of the 50 teams in Class A and B play on turf, which makes going through the regular season a matter of constant adjustment between the surfaces – and the kinds of games they allow.
Biddeford field hockey coach Caitlin Tremberth says, “Every little part of your individual, tactical game changes when you change surfaces.” Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
“Every little part of your individual, tactical game changes when you change surfaces,” said Biddeford Coach Caitlin Tremberth, who guided the Tigers for four years on grass before Waterhouse Field installed turf in 2018. “To teach high schoolers that and teach them as a team how to beat a grass team in about 24 hours, it’s pretty hard.”
On turf, the sport has changed into a faster and more athletic game featuring quick passes, evolved stick skills, and the possibility for a scoring threat to develop in an instant. What Skowhegan Coach Paula Doughty calls the “’90s game” of big hits to send the ball upfield and hoping it finds its way to a player near the goal has phased out.
“Coaches like myself who have coached a long time, 10 years ago, we had to relearn how to coach,” Doughty said. “It is not a grass game anymore. Most of my kids, for 10 months out of the year, play on turf (with club teams). It is a turf game. It’s a skilled game.”
On grass, that evolved game becomes negated. And for players who honed their skills on turf, they have to be ready to play a different way.
“It’s definitely hard. The ball speed goes down so much and you definitely have to acclimate to it,” said Biddeford junior back and midfielder Eliza Doyon. “On turf, you don’t really have bumps and everything, and divots like you do in the grass. That messes up a lot of things. You have to put a lot more power into the passes, which we don’t usually have to do on turf.”
Biddeford goaltender Cadence Goulet dives to stop a shot in a game last year against Cheverus. “It’s a different type of kick,” she says of defending the ball.” If I’m kicking on grass, I use my toe. If I’m kicking on turf, I use the inside of my foot. It’s totally a different angle.” Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
Even goaltending requires a different approach on grass.
“I like to do a lot of block tackles and go on the ground, but … a lot of times I’ll go and get stuck on the grass where I wouldn’t here,” said Biddeford senior goalie Cadence Goulet. “It’s a different type of kick. If I’m kicking on grass, I use my toe. If I’m kicking on turf, I use the inside of my foot. It’s totally a different angle.”
Turf teams have to prepare as best they can.
“We try to practice on grass, but our grass (practice) field can’t get short enough, so it kind of makes it hard to even practice at all,” said Freeport Coach Marcia Wood. “You can’t really get anything accomplished if you can’t move the ball at all.”
Wood said teams that use grass often have an advantage over those that don’t.
“Oh yeah, definitely. We have to spend part of our warmup just getting used to the grass and figuring out how that grass works,” she said. “Playing on grass definitely gives you that advantage. You’re used to it and you know how to play on it.”
Freeport High’s Reed Proscia handles the ball during a practice in August. Ball-handling and passing are far more precise on artificial turf fields. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
Every sport takes on a different dimension when going from grass to turf, but field hockey gets transformed entirely.
“Lacrosse, not so much, because they’re throwing it around in the air. Soccer, hardly at all, except for maybe just overall foot speed you might have, it doesn’t affect the ball as much,” said Greely Athletic Director David Shapiro. “But just how it affects the ball, and everything is on the ground in field hockey, it is a huge difference.”
Cape Elizabeth boys’ soccer coach Ben Raymond agreed.
“In soccer, I don’t think it has a huge impact on the game and on the way it’s played,” he said. “I would think field hockey should only be played on turf fields. It probably gets slowed down an awful lot on a grass field, unless it’s a really maintained field that’s cut really short, really tight grass.”
Even teams that play home games on grass can find themselves needing to adjust. Skowhegan’s field has gained a reputation for being as close to turf as a grass surface can get. And when River Hawks players – many of whom play on club and out-of-state teams on turf in the offseason – have a game on a shaggier field coming up, Doughty changes practice to make sure her players are ready.
“I have to teach two games,” she said. “I’ll say ‘OK, today we’re doing a grass practice.’ And a grass practice is, you get around the (defender, look up) and you drive it. And on turf, you use skills. You use passing and little short passes and nice dodges, and you can’t do that on grass because they can just pick it right off. It’s two totally different games, and it’s confusing for the kids.”
For that reason, some grass teams believe they have an advantage when they host a turf team.
Winslow field hockey coach Mary Beth Bourgoin, right, instructs a player during a 2019 game. “I like my home-field advantage,” Bourgoin says. “It’s grass, people have to come here and play on grass.”
“When Thomas (College) first got its turf, a lot of people were going and playing some of their regular-season home games there,” said Winslow Coach Mary Beth Bourgoin, who guided the Black Raiders to the Class B title in 2019. “I was asked more than once, ‘How come you’re not moving your home games to Thomas?’ I said ‘Because I like my home-field advantage.’ I like my field, it’s grass, people have to come here and play on grass. I don’t want to give up my home field.”
Manson, the Gorham coach, said it’s not always easy for a turf team to find a grass field in good enough condition for practice.
“If you’re a turf team and you have to then go find a plot of grass to practice on before you play a grass team, that is, in my opinion, a huge disadvantage,” she said. “I think it’s worse for the turf teams that are truly on turf now and don’t have a good grass surface to practice on before they come and play a grass team.”
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