Toronto FC Hold First Practice on New Pitch at BMO Field

Out with the old and in with the new.

 

That phrase applies to the Toronto FC in more ways than one this season. The team unveiled their new natural grass surface at BMO Field and gave the media a look at the new head coach, Preki and the 2010 squad in action as TFC held their first practice on the new grass.

 

Team captain Dwayne De Rosario was smiling ear to ear when asked to assess the new pitch.

 

“To step on grass in my hometown, I can finally say Soccer is here at the pro level. It’s a great day for not only myself, but for the guys in the locker room, for the fans and the whole of Toronto to have a great facility like this, its first class.”

 

Coach Preki was also impressed with the new surface and believes the team will benefit greatly from playing on grass.

 

“It is nice to be on the grass,” said Preki following the morning practice session. “The game is supposed to be played on grass so it is great to have it here. It is going to help cut down on injuries. I think it is going to help the players, especially their bodies. Sometimes I felt because we have been working very hard on turf throughout the week, by the end of the week their bodies get sore and legs get a little tired on the turf.”

 

 

Toronto FC and its parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment spent roughly $5.5 million to convert the previous field turf or artificial surface to a natural grass surface. The work began last November and was quite extensive in terms of the engineering work involved, including the installation of an irrigation and glycol heating systems. The Kentucky Blue Grass sod was laid down at the end of March and is the standard on pitches worldwide.

 

“Because natural grass is the standard the global soccer world, it certainly makes a big difference for attracting friendlies with global teams such as Real Madrid,” says Rajani Kamath, the Director of Corporate Communications with MLSE.

 

“Last year when Real Madrid came we spent $250,000 to put down natural grass for that one event alone. But that certainly made a tremendous difference as it was the biggest event last summer in Toronto. Having a permanent natural grass surface will certainly make a big difference for our players as well being able to attract amazing soccer events here to Toronto.”

 

Toronto FC Director, Manager of Soccer, Mo Johnston thinks the new surface will also help him recruit and attract new talent to the soccer club.

 

“It always helps,” said Johnston. “In the past we had 3 or 4 guys come in and once they see the astro turf they don’t want to come here but now there are no complaints. At the end of the day, we all don’t like playing on astro turf but the grass looks magnificent. We now need to go out and get a training facility to make us tier 1 for me in MLS.”

 

Along with the new surface, the team also added another 1200 seats to their home stadium as well as a new dugout.

 

So it seems the transformation of BMO Field is complete but can fans expect any more changes to the team?

 

“We’re trying,” added Johnston. “Money’s tight. Obviously we signed a lot of players in the last 3 or 4 weeks but I will always look to keep adding players and keep building.”

 

“We got upwards of 24 players, but I’m still looking at adding another centre back and another striker, if I can get that – hopefully in the near future. We got a young group so we need to add a little experience.”

 

Toronto FC will play it’s home opener on Thursday night when they host the expansion franchise, Philadelphia Union, at BMO Field, kickoff is 7pm.

Click here to view coach Preki’s media scrum.

Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com