Tarps for playing fields

[obbay]

I have heard this topic discussed in the past and it sounded like a good idea. This year I am associated with a fund-raising group for the High School Softball teams and I may actually be able to do something about it. So I'm beginning my homework and trying to see what significant information I can bring to the table to sell the idea.

My question is, for those of you who have experience with these, where do you get them, how much do they typically cost, how many guys to roll/unroll, etc. what is a good source of info on the subject? I understand you can use a large piece of pipe (culvert) to rollthem up on- what size ? (I may have contractors willing to donate material)

Any precautions you could recommend against vandalism? This is a suburban location and it's not unusual for kids to hang around parks at night looking for something to do...

The HS has 3 softball teams and I'm thinking we may be able to cover 3 fields, maybe 4. These fields are also used by the LL program, so it would help a lot of teams avoid rainouts during the rainiest season of the year. Realistically, I think we'll do well to get one field per season for the next 3 or 4 years.

Any info at all will be greatly appreciated.
thanks!

 

[amanda_cake]

None of the fields in my area have any, however, there is a waiting list to get a used tarp from a local minor league baseball team. They replace them very, very often and they give them to youth teams for free when they replace them. You might want to look into something like that. I don't know anything about them other than that bit of information, however.

I'm not sure what you could do to protect it from vandalism. We've had some issues like that. Kids with pocket knives have cut our batting cage net, which we've had to repair with zip ties. Wasn't very happy when I saw that, let me tell you.

 

[Dave D]

I'm in Oregon, so I have been doing the tarp dance for most of the past 15 years. Here's what I know:

You can get a pretty good tarp 120' x 120' for around $2000. If you really shop it, you can get them as low as $1500. That's before shipping. Depending on your location, that can add $300-$500 to your cost. Shipping weight is something like 400 pounds. Search athletic field covers and find a company in your area that sells these. For the most part, I would deal directly with the tarp manufacturer, and not one of the softball equipment resellers. You definitely want one with reinforced areas where handles attach for easy pulling.

Absent wind and a lot of water on top of the tarp, you can pull, fold and roll a tarp in about 15 min with as few as 10 kids. A well-trained group of kids can get a tarp from rolled on the side of the field to infield covered in about 5 minutes. NO CLEATS ON TARP!

As far as security goes, tarps are magnets for vandals with knives. I had one ruined once by a baseball player running onto it from an adjoining field with metal spikes on to get a foul ball. In some places I've seen, clubs have built tarp sheds slightly longer than the tarp and about 4' high and they just roll them in and lock them behind a gate. It's never completely safe when it's on the field, though, that's just a chance you have to take. I hung a couple of fake video surveillance cameras on my dugout a few years back to deter foot traffic, and that worked out pretty well.

If you were really going to buy 3 or 4 tarps, you might get a decent break on price from someone.

Over the years, tarps have saved me a lot more than they've ever cost, by reducing rainouts, getting home games when opponents' fields were unplayable, and increasing my total # of practice days each year. They can be a giant hassle, but in my eyes, if you can afford them, you'll be glad you have them.

 

[obbay]

Thanks! Lots of good info here, this is what I was looking for! I never thought of getting a used tarp from a college or minor league but it's definitely worth looking into.
Too bad about having to build a tarp shed, but better to go into it with that in mind rather than realizing it after the fact.
thanks again,
bob

 

[newsoftballdad]

What about the concern that a tarp may lead to a game on a day that otherwise would have been a rain out? In other words does the tarp make the field playable but in worse weather conditions than you would normally play leading to injury concerns. I see if it rains all night and the next day is sunny, but what if it is a steady misty rain all day, but you pull the tarp and the field is dry, to start the game.

 

[mad hornet]

What about the concern that a tarp may lead to a game on a day that otherwise would have been a rain out? In other words does the tarp make the field playable but in worse weather conditions than you would normally play leading to injury concerns. I see if it rains all night and the next day is sunny, but what if it is a steady misty rain all day, but you pull the tarp and the field is dry, to start the game.

I am totally confused by what you are asking. I would think having a game on a day that otherwise would have been rained out is a GOOD thing.

 

[Dave D]

I've always been in the mode that you play when you can in the spring. Wet outfields can be tricky, but if running on wet grass was more than moderately dangerous, we'd have more soccer and football games rained out. The truth of the tarp is that we are less likely to continue a game in bad conditions, because the option of pulling the tarp and waiting it out. Without the tarp, umpires and coaches are inclined to play until something bad happens, and then it's too late. I don't think you'd find anyone who has played on a tarped field who thought it in any way increased the danger of the situation.

 

[obbay]

Dave I live in New England and I don't know if we get as much rain as you do in the Northwest, but we get a lot. Lot's of rainouts and spring seasons that are supposed to end in June carrying over past July 4th and conflicting with summer league schedules. there are lots of borderline conditions that a tarp would make easily playable. in some cases we're talking fields aren't playable the day after rain because of all the mud and puddles in the infield.

Like you, we play when we can because you never know...

we have played when it was so wet that the big issue was the ball being too slippery to throw or catch.

 

[Cannonball]

Tarped fields are nice AS LONG AS THE DRAINAGE IS SITUATED TO ALLOW THE WATER TO RUN OFF OF THE FIELD. However, that is not typically the case. So, the water runs off, then runs under the tarp. If not under the tarp, it runs in the outfield where water stands in puddles.

If you can do this in the right way, then other schools may consider paying you to use your fields to get in critical games at the end of the season. For example, conference games just before playoff time where conference titles are in the balance. In that way, and being creative, tarps can pay for themselves.

 

[CoachKevin]

What about the concern that a tarp may lead to a game on a day that otherwise would have been a rain out? In other words does the tarp make the field playable but in worse weather conditions than you would normally play leading to injury concerns. I see if it rains all night and the next day is sunny, but what if it is a steady misty rain all day, but you pull the tarp and the field is dry, to start the game.

Our HS (in Oregon too) uses a tarp. Many games last year were supposed to be away games got switched to home games because our HS had a tarp, while the other school's field was unplayable. Since living in the NW, if you can't play in the rain we wouldn't get many games in... not to mention Spring Ball, the TD's don't want to cancel a tournament and thus I have played in weather that most wouldn't...