With winter sports underway, and spring sports to follow, Loudoun County School Board members recently voted to request funding, from the county, for turf fields to be installed at Potomac Falls. However, recent concerns about turf fields causing cancer in young adults are causing speculation amongst the school community. The concerns were raised from past cases of soccer players obtaining cancer from the little pellets of crushed up tire that make up a turf field. Athletic Director, Mike Tully has faith that the county will keep the players’ safety in mind.

 “I would hope that the county will take the appropriate measures to protect the kids; I trust that they will,” said Tully. He later said that he hopes the said concerns won’t stop turf installations, as the school would save money on maintenance for the field.

The cancer, which is more evident in goalies, can be obtained by unknowingly ingesting fumes that come from the field. Soccer goalie, Annie Chaale, has been a goalie for five years and isn’t really concerned about obtaining cancer, but thinks there should be something done about it.

 “I feel that if [cancer concerns] are a problem, they should do something about it,” said Chaale. With knowledge that not all turf fields are the same, she later said that she thinks a good amount of the fields have been fixed so that they’re not cancerous.

 The concerns are also evident in parents. Erin Pinero, a mother and teacher in the PFHS community, has a daughter that has been playing on turf since middle school. As much as she and many other parents are aware of the cancer, their worries are clouded by the fact that a turf field could be just what the high school needed.

 “I feel torn. I understand that for our community, in a lot of ways, having a turf field at our high school makes us seem more advanced. I’m excited about that because the weather doesn’t interfere with our sports and it’s the new best thing to do; and I struggle with that because [of] the research that’s being done,” said Pinero.

  Like Pinero, there are other people who are concerned about the installation of turf at the school; including public officials. School board member, Debbie Rose, has said that before any kind of final decision can be made, there should be more studies.
 “We do want to make sure that we are acting on science,” said Rose. “As a public official, I would say I would support studies and say [that] we need to look into this as a potential risk factor.” Rose later said that the student’s safety is the school board’s top priority.