EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S TURF New Resources for TPI Members to Promote Natural Grass
Casey Reynolds, PhD
If you haven’t been to TPI’s website
www.TurfGrassSod.org in the last few weeks, be sure to keep an eye on it after flipping through this latest issue of Turf News. By the time we get to the 2019 TPI Summer Convention & Field Day, TPI is planning to launch a new website and membership database full of resources to promote natural grass. In addition to tackling many of the regulatory and legislative issues featured on pages 10-11 and 14-15, TPI staff have been working diligently over the last several months on implementing a new membership database and creating a new TPI website constructed around the natural grass messaging pillars identified in recent market research from TPI’s PR firm, FleishmanHillard.
Even before launching our new site, at least some of the resources to be featured have already been used to promote natural grass and assist TPI members in at least two U.S. states. We recently completed a two-page fact sheet— which can be found on our new website—highlighting the results from a recent study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine which demonstrates that natural grass fields are safer and cause fewer lower body injuries than synthetic turf. Every NFL injury that occurred from 2012-2016 was documented and showed that synthetic turf fields caused between 27 percent and 103 percent more non-contact lower body injuries than natural grass. If every NFL game played on synthetic turf would have been played on natural grass, there would have been 319 fewer lower body injuries! How is it acceptable to willingly expose multi-million-dollar athletes to this increased likelihood of injury? Furthermore, how is it acceptable to expose children and competitive athletes at local middle schools, high schools, and colleges?
One of the goals behind our 2019 public relations campaign and creation of new, shareable resources is for TPI members to share this information locally. In one state for instance, I am working with a TPI member to mail a copy of this new safety & health publication to every high school coach and athletic director in the state. In another instance, a TPI member is using this
information to write an opinion/editorial piece to local representatives who are considering replacing natural grass fields with synthetic turf at schools. You can also read in this issue on pages 16-18 of how we worked with a TPI member to contact local news agencies, politicians, and athletic staff to reconsider allowing a football coach to replace a natural grass football field with synthetic. While the decision had already been made in that particular case, we at least caused them to rethink it and provided notification of the likelihood to expect increased injuries. We also laid the groundwork for how to help other TPI members do this in their area, which we are certainly happy to do.
As we continue to create and launch these new resources throughout 2019 on our new website, I ask all TPI members to consider how you can use and spread this information in your area to promote natural grass. Also, if you see other opportunities to create new resources please let me know, and we’ll work together to create them. We’ll officially be releasing and discussing all of this information at the 2019 Summer Convention & Field Day from July 23-25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and we hope to see you there. If not, check out our new website and upcoming issues of Turf News for more in-depth detail on these upcoming initiatives!
Cheers,
"One of the goals behind our 2019 public relations campaign and creation of new,
shareable resources is for TPI members to share this information locally."
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Turfgrass Producers International: @TPITurfTalk The Lawn Institute: @TLIhealthylawns
TPI Turf News July/August 2019
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