The City of Middletown and the Middletown City School District partnered with The Motz Group and Sportworks Design to install a synthetic turf system at Barnitz Field Stadium.

Prior to the installation, Sportworks Field Design provided survey services and field design that will incorporate seamlessly into the district’s Master Plan. As the first phase of the $2.5 million renovation project, the new synthetic turf system will accommodate use by the district for multiple sports and events.

Following their first games at Barnitz Field Stadium, the Girls Soccer Varsity and Junior Varsity head coach reported that her athletes were pleased with the quality of the field in an interview with the Middletown Journal. Coach Fugate said that the new synthetic turf will prove beneficial to her teams because it provides a quicker ground for moving the ball. The ability to move the ball faster and the extra width of the new turf field vs. the grass field gives the Middies soccer team a greater passing advantage. She said that the grass field at the high school, where the soccer games were formerly played, becomes muddy during the rainy seasons and does not accommodate large crowds efficiently. They are looking forward to playing all games in the 2014-15 season at Barnitz.