My 10 year old son's Mustang team is representing the South Zone in this weeks PONY World Series in Youngsville, LA. They sent us the rules of the complex and it states there is no gum or sunflower seeds.

Apparently, their complex is pretty new and has turf infields. I must admit to being pretty shocked to see those two things banned. I can't recall the last time I watched a game without chewing gum.

Pretty sure The Yard in Houston has the same rules

We do our Relay for Life event at a stadium with a turf field. The #1 rule is no gum or sunflower seeds. I swear you'd get in less trouble if you pooped on the field than if you spit a seed hull on it.

Luke The Drifter said:

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We do our Relay for Life event at a stadium with a turf field. The #1 rule is no gum or sunflower seeds. I swear you'd get in less trouble if you pooped on the field than if you spit a seed hull on it.

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They just had a rules addition,

Now there is no gum, sunflower seeds or pooping.

pepe the dog said:

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Luke The Drifter said:

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We do our Relay for Life event at a stadium with a turf field. The #1 rule is no gum or sunflower seeds. I swear you'd get in less trouble if you pooped on the field than if you spit a seed hull on it.

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They just had a rules addition,

Now there is no gum, sunflower seeds or pooping.

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Tough but fair.

Everywhere my team plays that has turf has those rules... no seeds, no gum, no tobacco, no colored drinks..

That way on turf football stadiums too... Consol, CSHS, Bryan, etc

No Gatorade on HS turf football fields?

Congratulations to your son on making the Pony WS!

My son's team made a pretty deep run out of the West Zone. They ended up making the championship game in Super Regions (lost to Placentia) and then got knocked out in the elimination game. Looks like you guys might face Placentia if you beat NC in round 1. Ironically, here in SoCal, if you can get out of Super Regions, the path to the WS probably gets a bit easier.

I've come to like the turf fields. At this age level, there is such a wide variance in infield quality. Our home infields are turf, and it makes life a lot easier. No infield prep, no chalking lines, no bad hops and the kids love playing on them. All our Super Region games were basically on softball fields, and I have never seen so many goofy hops and so many errors made by some pretty solid teams. It seems most all the turf field complexes ban the gum and seeds. But, from what I have seen, that generally applies to the players only.

Guess it's time for peanuts.

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All our Super Region games were basically on softball fields, and I have never seen so many goofy hops and so many errors made by some pretty solid teams. It seems most all the turf field complexes ban the gum and seeds. But, from what I have seen, that generally applies to the players only.

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Our fields in Deer Park were like playing at the beach. They looked great but the dirt in the infield wasn't tamped down very well and they didn't drag it enough. The kids looked they were running between bases in slow motion.

pepe the dog said:

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Luke The Drifter said:

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We do our Relay for Life event at a stadium with a turf field. The #1 rule is no gum or sunflower seeds. I swear you'd get in less trouble if you pooped on the field than if you spit a seed hull on it.

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They just had a rules addition,

Now there is no gum, sunflower seeds or pooping.

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You must hate the last one, Pepe the Dog.

ABATTBQ87 said:

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D_Wag97 said:

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Turf fields

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Even though turf fields are looked upon in a negative light they do help smaller school districts and private schools save money in the long run regarding field maintenance,watering, Etc

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https://theconversation.com/why-artificial-turf-may-truly-be-bad-for-kids-72044

I hate turf. And as the article states, hot as hell, too.

I understand the gum but why no seeds?

I've always assumed the seed shells somehow destroy the turf over time. I'm not sure how though. I know this is the policy at most of the Central Texas turf fields.

It is just that they are really hard to clean up. They hide in the rubber material. You can't vacuum them up (which you can do on a natural field) because that would vacuum up all the rubber pieces.

Also, on a grass field, they will break down naturally but they don't do that (or at least take much longer to do that) on a synthetic field.