Supplement Feature - July 2009

Stadium Solutions

An Inside Look at Outdoor Sports

By Richard Zowie

Spanning 65 acres, Diamond Nation is the nation's premier baseball and softball tournament and training facility, and it recently began installing six new synthetic turf fields.

Of the new fields, four are 90-foot fields at about 107,000 square feet and two are 50-foot to 70-foot fields, at approximately 45,000 square feet. The new fields join a seventh existing synthetic turf field at the facility.

Each of the 90-foot fields is designed to be converted into two Little League-sized fields, each with its own backstop, dugouts and bullpens, giving the complex more flexibility. Up to 12 games will be able to take place at the same time.

Diamond Nation will be home to the Jack Cust Baseball Academy as well as the Jennie Finch Softball Academy, and the synthetic fields are specifically designed for the particularities of both sports. They feature a slight reduction in fiber pile height and a modest increase in the weight of sand in the rubber and sand infill to deliver consistent ball bounce and roll.

Jack Cust, of the Oakland A's and founder of the Jack Cust Baseball Academy called the facility the "start of a new era of baseball." He added, "Serious athletes looking to take their game to the next level now have a state-of-the-art facility, delivering a playing experience like no other."

In a nod to another trend that has been sweeping the nation, the fields are also environmentally friendly, made from recycled materials and eliminating the need for watering, mowing and the use of chemicals and fertilizers to keep the field in playing condition.