George Finn believes there is a need for an artificial turf athletic field in Barrington.

The need is there, he said, not just for the sports teams at Barrington High School, where he serves as the director of athletics and student activities, but also for the rest of the community — for youth sports leagues and for the preservation of the other athletic fields across Barrington. 

“The community needs something within town for all our programs,” Finn said. “I just see it (an artificial turf field) as an opportunity to improve the condition of all our fields.”

The Barrington Town Council recently began exploring the possibility of building an artificial turf field as well as constructing an indoor athletic facility. Council member Rob Humm shared a presentation on Jan. 9, detailing a well-documented and long-standing need for more athletic fields in Barrington, as well as ongoing problems with the condition of Barrington’s existing fields. 

The council will hold a workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 1 to discuss fields.

Finn knows firsthand the challenge of maintaining athletic fields in Barrington. Each year Finn works closely with the department of public works to prepare and preserve the fields at Barrington High School for practices and games. 

The effort is substantial, Finn said. It includes covering some of the fields with large plastic tarps in the winter to accelerate the growth of grass, however difficult that can be during the cold weather months. 

Finn said there is no chance to rest the Barrington High School fields during the other seasons because of the busy sports schedules and the lack of other available field space. 

“We play in the fall. We play in the spring. Those are the two best times to seed and rest fields,” Finn said. 

The BHS director of athletics said that scenario would change if there was an artificial turf field in Barrington. Finn said activities — practices and games — could be moved onto the turf field, allowing town officials an opportunity to rest the natural grass playing fields. 

“If we need to shut down a field, we just load up (scheduling) on the synthetic turf,” Finn said. 

“It’s across the board, not just at the middle school and high school. It’s for all the fields across town.”

Finn said the athletic fields in Barrington may look OK to people who are driving by them, but anyone walking the fields or competing on them knows the appearance from afar can be deceiving. 

“I don’t think a lot of people observe up close,” Finn said. “You walk on that field and then you can see… the fields get beat up pretty quickly, especially in the inclement weather.”

Early season, away games

It is the last week of January, but the spring sports schedule for Barrington High School athletic teams is already complete. 

Finn builds the spring schedules with a strong recollection of previous springs — a sometimes fickle season that can feature sunshine and warm temperatures one day, and a blowing snowstorm the next. 

“A lot of the early season games, I’m moving to communities that may have a turf surface,” Finn said. 

“In the past 10 years we’ve gotten hit with more storms in February and March. That’s always in the back of my mind.”

Certain sports teams are impacted more than others by the lack of an artificial turf field. 

Field hockey, boys and girls lacrosse, soccer and some other teams are at a disadvantage because they do not have a turf surface to play on. Between 80 and 90 percent of the Division I boys and girls lacrosse programs in Rhode Island play on an artificial turf surface, Finn said. Barrington is one of the few schools where the home field is covered with natural grass. 

“Field hockey, lacrosse, soccer. It’s a different way to play the game than on natural grass,” Finn said. “The (BHS) coaches want to make sure they’re able to prepare their teams for game-like situations.

“We are going to do the best we can to give our kids the best playing conditions as possible.”

The Barrington High School field hockey team, which regularly competes for a state championship, has taken it upon themselves to find an artificial turf field to practice on. The team raises money through cookie dough sales and other fund-raisers to pay rental fees for the artificial turf field in Seekonk. 

When the weather worsened this past fall, the BHS football team rented space at an indoor turf facility on Route 6 in Seekonk for practices. Youth sports teams from Barrington have done the same thing. 

Finn said a town-owned artificial turf field in Barrington would change that. Local sports teams could use the artificial turf field if there’s rain or snow. 

Finn, who is a veteran athletic trainer, said the newer artificial turf fields are better than prior products. He said a lot has changed since the early 2000s when this town first began exploring artificial turf. 

“They’ve become more environmentally-conscious,” he said. “They’re more recyclable.”

Finn said there are a lot of options when it comes to deciding which turf field infill material to use and where to locate a new artificial turf field. 

“I see it as, there’s a combination of things that will make the most sense for our community,” Finn said.