Brown University Installs New AstroTurf Surface for Field Hockey

Providence, Rhode Island – The upcoming fall season will be one to remember for Brown University Field Hockey. The Bears will play on a brand new state-of-the-art surface manufactured by the leaders in synthetic turf, AstroTurf®. Purpose-built to enhance ball roll consistency and increase safety, the new field, the AstroTurf® System 90, will empower the Bears to push themselves hard both in practice and on game days.

2021 also marks the 11th season with Head Coach Jill Reeve at the helm. A former Olympian, 12-year national team member, and USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Reeve is adept at drawing out the best in her players. Over the past decade at Brown, she has coached 28 student-athletes to All-Ivy honors and has led her team to many surprise wins.

This will also be the first season with Assistant Coach Keighan Richardson. A graduate of Bryant University, where she was co-captain her senior year and named to the First Team All-MAAC team and the All-MAAC Tournament Team her junior year, Richardson brings a wealth of experience to the table. Joining Reeve and long-time Assistant Coach Jillian Coppola, Richardson will be instrumental in helping the Brown Bears take their level of sportsmanship up a notch.

“The turf is spectacular, and the timing of its unveiling comes at the perfect moment,” said Head Coach Jill Reeve.  “This field is symbolic of our journey as we kick-off our 2021 season. It highlights Brown’s commitment to the program and our student-athletes. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

The AstroTurf System 90 features A12 knitted nylon. Our System 90 provides low ball bounce and non-directionality fibers to enhance the ball roll while providing the athletes a firmer feel under foot. For the layer underneath the knitted nylon, Brown University went with a 3/8” Armacell Pad for enhanced shock absorption.

AstroTurf® has been considered the gold standard in the sport ever since the game was played on an AstroTurf® system at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Uniform and predictable, it is the field hockey turf of choice at top universities around the country, including Rutgers University, Duke University, and the University of Maryland.

Goldberger Family Field, the official home turf for the Brown Bears field hockey team, is a regulation-sized field hockey field. It only has lines for the sport and is the exclusive practice and competition field for Brown Field Hockey.

In addition to installing a new AstroTurf® system, Goldberger Family Field also has a new Daktronics scoreboard, spectator stands, and a press box. It’s a well-deserved, end-to-end upgrade for a hard-working team of student-athletes.

“We’re excited about the recent turf replacement at Goldberger Field which will provide our field hockey student-athletes and coaches with a new state-of-the-art field when they return to play this fall,” said Vice President of Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun ’92, Ph.D. “Our new high-quality playing surface provides our program with another tool to improve and is a testament to the university’s ongoing commitment to facility enhancements and upgrades to our Division.”

The Bears start the fall field hockey season with three straight home tilts beginning on September 3rd. They play Saint Francis, followed by Merrimack on September 5th, and local rival Bryant on September 10th. Brown will host a total of nine home games this year, giving fans plenty of opportunities to come out and support the team.

About AstroTurf®

For athletes and sports enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport, and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams, and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s website at www.astroturf.com.