We recently caught up with Tony Albertina, Recreation Supervisor for the Decatur Park District (in Illinois) and Andy Ommen of Professional Outdoor Solutions.  Tony oversees a complex, Rotary Park, that is home to five ballfields.  They were having playability issues, especially with the amount of games they play from May-July.  Tony knew they needed to make a change and contacted Homefield Authorized Installer, Professional Outdoor Solutions, to take a look.

“We had done work for them in the past at Rotary Park,” said Andy Ommen of Professional Outdoor Solutions.  “We mostly did small projects like cleaning up edges and amended some with a small amount of material. We recommended them to at least try going full DuraEdge Classic on one infield. I had personally experienced this on my own 12U field that I took care of.  We did a renovation on one of my fields and I instantly saw the impact. So, we converted the entire six field complex to DuraEdge.”

So, Tony and the Decatur Park District agreed to do the project.  Allen Wall of Professional Outdoor Solutions did the install this past spring, and they went right into playing a lot of games.  The DuraEdge infield mix as well as the laser grading was eye opening for them as there were many days that the newly renovated DuraEdge field was the only field playable in the complex.

“Right now, we are beginning to slow down with the kids going back to school, but from May-July we have Youth and Adult League games every night,” says Tony Albertina of the Decatur Park District.  “This field (DuraEdge renovated) was intended to be a test field to demonstrate how well DuraEdge improved our fields. Last week, we had 3.5” of rain overnight, supposedly a record for overnight rainfall, and all the other fields were unplayable.  The field that Allen installed was still firm and was playable by the early afternoon.  It truly shows how good the product is, as well as the quality of work by Professional Outdoor Solutions.  We don’t get any puddling on that field.  The other fields have some weird spots.  That stuff works amazing.  The guys like how the ball moves off the surface, too.  It’s easier to track.  You get natural hops on the infield.  The next step is securing the funds to renovate the rest of the fields at Rotary Park with DuraEdge.”

If you are having similar issues at your ballfields, now is a great time to talk about options for making your fields safer and more playable.