by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
When football fans watch the Jacksonville Jaguars practice this summer, they should expect to see a little more bounce in the players’ steps.
The Jaguars unveiled their $3 million practice facility Tuesday, featuring a $600,000 synthetic turf field as its showpiece. The field is a new generation of artificial turf, which performs, looks and feels more like grass. Jaguars fans can get their first look at the field — and the team — Saturday morning.
The team’s 2003 training camp opens Friday when all 86 players are expected to report. The Jaguars will pull on the pads Saturday at 8:45 a.m. for their first practice. A 4 p.m. practice will follow. Practice is open to the public from July 26 through Aug. 20.
The new fields sprawl across thousands of square feet at Alltel Stadium’s northwest tip. The old practice fields will be eliminated to make way for Alltel’s $46 million Super Bowl upgrade. Jaguars vice president Bill Prescott said the more spacious surroundings allow the team to provide visitors with more accommodations.
When not watching the team practice from more than 2,000 newly-installed bleacher seats (see area A on the map), visiting fans can keep busy eating, drinking and playing. Vendors are just a shanked punt away from the field’s east end bleachers, and the team will provide interactive games for children (area B).
Although not allowed on the field, visitors will be free to roam a roped-off area extending down the field’s north side (area C). The rope will allow fans within 21 feet of all three fields. At the south end, fans can view practice through a chain-link fence (area D).
The field’s south side displaced 79 parking spots, but the team more than replaced them; adding 133 spots behind the field’s northern fence. Lots N and M (area E) are designated for visitor parking.
Prescott said the changes would bring the fans closer to their team.
“The expansion out here is really more for the fans,” said Prescott. “No other facility allows fans to get so close; they get to feel like they’re part of the team.”
Prescott said the players would travel a roped-off corridor right through the fans as they walk on and off the field (area B).
Like the players, fans will get to take their first steps on the new synthetic FieldTurf practice field (area F). FieldTurf is the next generation of artificial grass; a serious departure from the 1970s-era, green-painted carpet surfaces. The turf weaves individual polypropylene grass blades into a base of sand and ground-up tires. The blades are oiled to prevent carpet burns, the sandy foundation gives to prevent knee injuries and the rubber pellets provide a cushion when a 300-pound lineman drives the quarterback to the ground.
With FieldTurf gaining acceptance in the National Football League, Prescott said practicing on the field would prepare the Jaguars for travel to FieldTurf stadiums such as Seattle, Detroit and Atlanta. The team plays in Atlanta Dec. 28. Prescott said there were no plans to install FieldTurf inside Alltel Stadium.