ESTO Survey: Majority of Soccer Coaches in Europe Prefer Artificial Turf
As many as three–quarters of all soccer coaches in Europe believe that their players are likely to develop better skills by training on synthetic turf. That’s just one of the significant findings of a survey conducted by the European Synthetic Turf Organisation and recently published.
Collectively, 65% of those surveyed consistently coach on artificial turf. What’s more, only 1% of respondents indicated they had never coached on turf — an encouraging sign that the surface is becoming more accepted at all levels of the sport. The highest reported usage of synthetic turf, according to the survey results, occurs in Norway (84%), followed by Ireland and Scotland (81% each) and Moldova (75%). Additionally, the overwhelming majority of coaches prefer to coach players on synthetic turf, which allows them to most effectively implement their coaching methods.
Titled “A Survey of Professional Football Coaches in Europe on Their Views of Practicing and Playing on Synthetic Turf,” the report reflects the opinions of more than 2,000 coaches — a demographic often overlooked in discussions about the use of turf for the sport. The majority of responses were from paid professional coaches who work full time or part time, with male and female youth and adult players.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Coaches in the ESTO survey cite the following benefits, in order of greatest importance, of practicing and playing on synthetic turf:
Fewer games and sessions are lost because of bad weather
Consistent stable conditions, irrespective of weather
Always available to use, irrespective of weather
Fewer injuries
Major benefit for the development of young players
A higher tempo of play
Opinions are almost evenly divided on whether coaches would prefer to play all competitive matches on turf.
IN THE COACHES’ WORDS
“I have noted a definite improvement in skill acquisition of players who have played regular competitive football on synthetic [turf],” wrote Valdas Dambrauska, coach of FK Ekranas of the Lithuanian Premier League, in one of more than 10,000 comments made by all coaches surveyed.
Teddy Moen, CEO of the Norwegian Football Trainers Association, claimed that younger players actually prefer practicing and playing on a synthetic field, which in turn boosts their interest in continued training.
BIG CHANGES SINCE 2013
In a survey ESTO conducted in 2013 with 110 members of Coaches BV, the association of Dutch professional football coaches, 62 percent of coaches believed that “players are able to develop better technical skills by training on synthetic turf.” The majority of coaches also agreed that they “find it easier to implement their coaching methods on an artificial pitch” and “would rather coach on a modern artificial pitch than a poor quality natural turf pitch.” Additionally, they claimed that “teams that play on artificial pitches have a big advantage for home games.”
WHAT ABOUT NORTH AMERICA?
In North America, coaches also are warming to artificial turf. Mike Sorber, a World Cup veteran who was a member of Team USA in the 1994 World Cup, an alternate on the 1998 team, an assistant coach in 2010 and now an assistant with the MLS’ Philadelphia Union, says that a majority of youth, high school and college players already train and compete on turf, and those who don’t eventually will. “The more kids who grow up playing on much better turf fields than we played on, the more those old perceptions will change,” Sorber says. “If good turf fields are available, practices can be run at higher and more consistent levels, which eventually will result in better players and greater opportunities for the United States to win the World Cup.”
CONCLUSION
ESTO officials conclude that “by supporting the use of synthetic turf, football coaches will influence the attitudes of future generations of players, coaches, parents, officials and politicians.”