We have officially begun our 2023 Spring playing season! If you were at the Plex the past weekend you might have noticed we have signs that permit spectating in certain areas only – believe it or not, there is a science behind that request!

The middle third of the playing field will see almost 70% of the action and impact during a game whether it be soccer or lacrosse. This excessively high traffic is why we try to eliminate non-playing traffic as much as possible. The more the middle third of the field can rest, the better! This is why we request certain parts of the field not to be sat on! By following the guidelines, you are helping us keep the fields at the highest quality to ensure that everyone has a safe playing surface throughout the entire year.

When playing on one of our smaller field configurations such as 9v9, 7v7, or 4v4 fields, there are often multiple fields within the larger main field, and you’ll see a sign on certain parts of the sideline that indicates there is no seating allowed. That is set up because your smaller fields are part of the overall larger field. Our goal is not to have spectators sitting on the overall larger field. You wouldn’t sit ON field 1 if a game was going on, so you shouldn’t be sitting on the field if your game is on field 1A. Below are some examples of where not to sit during a game if your team is playing on a smaller field.

Two 9v9 on one field:

Two 7v7 on one field:

One 9v9 and one 7v7 on one field:

The exciting part about field maintenance is that weather can always affect the maintenance program that our ground crew has implemented. This means field positions and spectator positions may need to be changed from week to week. If you are abiding by the signage placed on the field, then you are doing the most effective thing to help our grounds crew keep our fields high-quality!

Tune in next time when we discuss how we are going green at the Plex!