A motion to appropriate $2,000,000 to fund the installation of new synthetic turf at Nutting Field failed at Westford’s annual Town Meeting on March 2, 2025, causing concerns about the condition and safety of the current turf field.
After the failure of the motion, there have been talks of changing the field to authentic grass. A non-binding resolution to install natural grass was put to a vote later in the meeting, passing 347-66. The Westford Parks & Recreation Commission will be meeting on Monday, May 5 to address the vote.
“The biggest concerns are maintenance and the translation between grass and turf,” WA senior and Boys’ Soccer Captain Lucas Dos Santos said. “Turf is really easy to maintain but with grass you have to mow consistently […] in many cases [the] field is impossible to play on at a high level.”
Multiple WA teams currently play at Nutting Field, including Girls’ Field Hockey in the fall and the Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse in the spring. Not only would this decision affect WA teams’ training, but it could also create more safety concerns in the future.
As both turf and grass fields grow older, the divots and patches that form due to continued use can heighten the risk of athletic injuries. According to WA Boys’ Soccer coach Jeffrey Lamy, typical injuries that he has seen on the field have been sprained ankles, ACL and MCL injuries, groin injuries, and sprained knees. Resurfacing the field would eliminate the irregularities, as the process involves reinstalling a new layer of synthetic turf.
Lamy also stated that changing the field to grass would create a disadvantage for WA sports, as the teams WA plays against in the DCL are getting upgrades and repairs to their own turf fields.
“My hope was that the field would be resurfaced. Many teams we play in the DCL are getting upgrades to their fields and stadiums, and it seems as though this vote will have a negative impact for Westford Academy sports,” Lamy said.
Additionally, altering the surface material of the field would cause difficulty when attempting to translate those skills to other fields. For example, the WA Boys’ Soccer team’s style of play is based on possession of the ball and short passing, which is aided by the consistent bounces and rolls from the synthetic surface.
“Grass slows down the speed of the ball. The ball will move slower when passing and dribbling [in longer grass] and this year we played at a fast tempo. Next year, practices will be harder to imitate in-game scenarios,” Dos Santos said.
According to WA Athletic Director Jeff Bunyon, with the amount of teams that practice at Nutting, the field is a necessity to many sports teams at WA. He believes that once the potential risks of leaving the field as it is are reported on, then the town will consider the vote more seriously.
“I am confident now that there’s more focus and more discussion around the importance of these fields that when the sports community comes out to take a re-vote, they will vote positively in favor of resurfacing those fields,” Bunyon said.
