AstroTurf^® and European Hockey Federation Announces New Partnership Agreement

The European Hockey Federation (EHF) and AstroTurf ^® synthetic sports surfacing have entered into a new partnership agreement which sees the turf's position as the official supplier of synthetic field hockey pitches to the Federation. The recently signed agreement between AstroTurf ^® and the EHF extends the organisations' formal partnership, which first began in 1995.

Bryan Peeples, President of AstroTurf LLC, states, "It is our extreme pleasure to announce the continuance of the long standing sponsorship of the EHF. We have been fortunate to have had input from the highest levels of the EHF for future product needs and design. Part of the changes in our offerings include BIOCEL^TM technology in the System 5 which utilizes renewable resources as well as post-industrial and post-consumer products."

Leandro Negre, President of EHF expressed "his thanks to Bryan Peeples and AstroTurf ^® for placing their trust in EHF with this new partnership agreement" He went on to say "that this partnership agreement will be of great benefit to the Member Associations over the years ahead."

AstroTurf ^® 's selection by the EHF as the organisation's official synthetic turf was a natural choice since the system is the world's most popular field hockey surface. First offered in 1965, AstroTurf ^® is engineered to preserve field hockey's necessary "wet" characteristics without excessive watering, which allows the sport's ideal playing conditions to be maintained longer with less overall water usage. AstroTurf ^® fields are constructed from 100% nylon fibre's, which provide a softer and less abrasive surface for better playability, player comfort, ease of maintenance and dependability. The economical and durable open cell foam pad used under the AstroTurf ^® surface provides additional water containment and cushioning for athletes.

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Football ACL Injuries About Equal On Grass Versus AstroTurf^®

James P. Bradley MD, head team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has studied ACL injuries in the NFL and reports that while the prevalence of those injuries is about the same on the two playing surfaces (grass versus AstroTurf ^®), it remains to be seen whether the rate of ACL injury will change due to newer artificial surfaces.

"When we look at incidence, there are actually more ACL injuries occurring on natural grass," explains Dr. Bradley, "That's because more teams practice and play on grass than on artificial surfaces. However, when we look at ACL injuries by exposure we have found no real differences between grass and AstroTurf ^®." GO>>

PureGrass^®: The Latest Innovative Field System from AstroTurf, LLC.

PureGrass^® is unique in that it combines the resilience and durability of nylon in its Root Zone^® thatch under layer with the softness of longer nylon grass-like blades.

Used with or without infill, in permanent or portable installations, PureGrass^® delivers unprecedented grass-like foot movement, feel, ball response, durability and natural appearance.

Designed to meet or exceed the standards required for high-level professional and collegiate competition, PureGrass^® is the ultimate multi-sport surface. GO>