2 SLO County high school football fields are getting major upgrades
The football fields at San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay high schools are getting major upgrades thanks to a new project that leaders say will reduce maintenance demands and expand community field use opportunities.
Ryan Pinkerton, San Luis Coastal’s assistant superintendent of business services, confirmed to The Tribune that both high schools are getting new, artificial turf installed on their fields. Morro Bay will also get new stadium lights and new bleachers.
In total, the combined projects carry a price tag of about $6 million — most of which stems from the stadium upgrades in Morro Bay, Pinkerton said. By itself, the turf installation costs about $1.3 million, including five-year maintenance and equipment for the district, he said.
The projects are being funded with school bond funds and matching state grants, Pinkerton said.
School officials say the new turf will help them keep up with field maintenance — and because of that, the fields can be more broadly used by community groups they’ve previously had to turn away.
“With most of our school programs running nearly year round, it was difficult to find equitable maintenance windows to provide our grounds team with an adequate window to safely maintain the surfaces,” Morro Bay High School athletic director Tyler Hoyt told The Tribune over email. “With artificial turf, our school programs will have a higher level of access due to less maintenance needs.”
Construction began in December, and the turf install was scheduled to be completed at both sites by the end of April.
Morro Bay, SLO high schools to get football field upgrades
Pinkerton told The Tribune that the school district had hoped to maintain grass fields at both schools — which is why SLO High got a sod replacement using bond funds in 2022.
But overuse and weather conditions made it difficult to keep them up to standards.
“In an ideal world, this would have remained,” Pinkerton said via email. “Unfortunately, it would require us to have multiple extra fields for teams to play and practice, while the grass fields could be kept up.”
Pinkerton said the groundskeepers at the high schools have tried to maintain the fields, but the district has received complaints about the state of the grass from principals, parents, coaches and community groups who use the fields.
Due to year-round sports opportunities, the fields never had a chance to recover.
“Despite our efforts — spending tens of thousands of dollars on seed, soil and sand, we could not maintain the fields to a level that was expected,” Pinkerton said.
He added that the district doesn’t have enough field space to keep athletes off the field for the time period required for the grass to regenerate. When the district did send athletes to the other practice fields, the use resulted in wear and tear there too, which the district also received complaints about.
Those conditions led the district to explore turf instead.
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Pinkerton said the district met with Cal Poly officials to discuss turf and applied for grants to assist with the project.
“Fortunately, our bond staff worked diligently to get matching funds from the state so that we could afford to move forward with the new artificial turf at SLOHS and new stadium bleachers, lights, artificial turf at MBHS,” Pinkerton said.
Pinkerton added that the new amenities at Morro Bay High School and the new turf will be an “asset to our community and schools” — something the athletic directors for both schools echoed in their comments to The Tribune.
Hoyt said the year-round use of the grass fields made it difficult for the school to partner with community teams who wanted to use the fields. The same was the case in SLO, according to athletic director Adam Basch.
In the past, SLO High had to decline requests from community soccer groups to use the fields, but he hoped that can change with the transition to turf.
Basch said the turf will have a “great impact on students,” adding that it will allow for more consistent practices for more students, regardless of weather.
Beyond the practical reasons, Basch added that the new fields could help boost morale and school spirit.
“There is something about being out there on a game night and the field is nice and green and the lines are crisp and white, and the tiger is in the middle, and it looks really sharp, you know, that adds to the overall game experience” he said. “ ... It just gives more sense of pride in the school and the community.”
