text: LEWIS | CAL replacing field with newly designed AstroTurf - WDRB 41 Louisville News
  LEWIS | CAL replacing field with newly designed AstroTurf
  Christian Academy will debut its field later this summer. It's one of the few of its kind in the nation.
  Friday, July 1st 2016, 4:31 pm EDT by John Lewis
  Friday, July 1st 2016, 4:31 pm EDT
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Christian Academy athletic director Brad Morgan says there are more than 100 athletic teams that use the multi-purpose field on campus. The one-time natural grass surface is undergoing a much needed renovation.
  "The grass surface couldn't sustain that many teams (and) that many events. We had over 40 events rained out last season," said Morgan.
  The new field was designed by AstroTurf and just created by the company in the last year. Instead of using crumb rubber as filler, it uses a natural mineral called Zeofill along with sand.
  Federal investigators have looked into questions about exposure to crumb rubber, which factored into Morgan's decision to use the recently created technology to replace the field at Christian Academy.
  "It was definitely a concern. We wanted to see if there were other options and this is one we felt great about," said Morgan, who says he researched several options and visited the west coast to research the new AstroTurf design. The CAL field is one of the few of its kind in the United States.
  Head football coach Stefan LeFors played on the crumb rubber field at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium when he was quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals. He says it had its positives and negatives.
  "The summer conditioning on that field was kind of a grind because it got hot," says LeFors. "but the footing, you never had to worry about it."
  LeFors says the new surface is hopefully a step above, performance wise and safety wise.
  "The impact of hitting the ground is little bit better on this field and the crumb rubber, with all the talk about that, it seems like it's a safer field."
  Work on the field began May 18th and is expected to be completed in time for CAL's first fall football practice on July 18th.