Loyola High School of Los Angeles Trusts FieldTurf, Again, for Field Replacement

Loyola High School of Los Angeles, the oldest continually operated educational institution in Southern California, boasts a rich athletic tradition. So when it came time to replace the multipurpose surface at Smith Field in the summer of 2021, school officials opted for FieldTurf’s Vertex CORE system.

FieldTurf Vertex CORE was designed to deliver the perfect combination of performance and beauty. Equipped with two legendary FieldTurf fibers, the Classic HD slit-film fiber and the CORE monofilament super fiber, the system delivers leading agility, durability and aesthetics. Vertex CORE is a demonstration of FieldTurf’s unwavering dedication to quality and strive to Change The Game.

The new field replaces an aged FieldTurf surface. For Chris O’Donnell, Loyola’s longtime athletic director and a three-sport high school athlete who graduated from Loyola in 1988, the decision to convert from grass to FieldTurf years ago was an easy one — and he’s never looked back.

“When our field was grass, it would just get destroyed anytime it would rain, and we couldn’t practice for a day or two,” O’Donnell says. “We were losing so many days, and when we could play, the field conditions weren’t good. So we started researching synthetic turf, and FieldTurf clearly made the best product.”

Loyola High School has trusted FieldTurf for over 15 years. With the initial field conversion in 2006, the school and FieldTurf have partnered on 3 three projects and continue to build on a successful relationship.“FieldTurf was very helpful with the planning and scheduling of our current replacement. Their service over the years has been outstanding and there was no doubt that we wanted our next field to be FieldTurf.” O’Donnell says.

Loyola’s new surface also will feature FieldTurf’s CoolPlay infill system, the company’s renowned cooling technology. “CoolPlay is just another way that FieldTurf’s innovation is helping athletes and their programs perform at their best,.” O’Donnell says. “As athletic director, part of my job is to make our facilities as good as possible. I don’t want the facilities to be a reason why our teams are not achieving — or an obstacle to achieving.”

O’Donnell says that prior to installing FieldTurf, much of his schedule was consumed with determining whether the grass field was playable each day and figuring out how to best utilize the surface to save on wear and tear. Now, field quality is a non-factor, because the field is always ready.

“Before we had FieldTurf, there would be coaches and athletic directors who would complain about the field quality, whether it was after a rain or later in the academic year,” he says. “Since we put in FieldTurf, the only discussions I have with them is about how great the field is.”