NEW YORK CITY— Six leading high school football programs here are getting a feel for the state-of-the-art Game Day Grass XPe synthetic surface at Midwood High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the site of the 2008 Public School Athletic League (PSAL) high school football championships.

The varsity football playoffs are contested each year in three different tier divisions: the PSAL Cup, PSAL Bowl and PSAL City Championship.

At noon on Saturday, Nov. 29, Staten Island's Port Richmond and Brooklyn's Fort Hamilton will battle it out at Midwood Field for the City Championship. On Sunday, Nov. 24, George Washington (Washington Heights, Manhattan) defeated Far Rockaway (Queens) for the Cup Championship, and New Dorp (Staten Island) claimed the Bowl Championship with a win over Erasmus Hall (Brooklyn).

The 66,500 sq. ft. field at Midwood was installed by Raleigh-based GeneralSports Venue (GSV), the exclusive U.S. licensee of the AstroTurf brand, and donated by the NFL as part of NFL Play 60, a youth health and fitness campaign encouraging kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. The field is used by both Midwood and nearby Edward R. Murrow High School, in addition to hosting city-wide playoffs, all-star games and other events.  

“We love everything about it – everyone's banging on our door to use it,” said Midwood Athletic Director Mary Anne Elder.   “We have two football teams, two soccer teams and two lacrosse teams using the field, in addition to over 8,000 kids who get to enjoy the field for PE. It's fabulous, and we are extremely grateful to everyone involved that helped provide this to our community.”

GameDay Grass XPe, a polyethylene infill system that simulates   the appearance of natural grass,   was selected by GSV as the best choice for   the multi-sport use the field would receive at Midwood.

The durable synthetic turf also features TurfAide, a factory-applied antimicrobial agent standard in all AstroTurf products, to combat a variety of bacteria including staph and   MRSA.

The New York City Department of Education and PSAL were instrumental in identifying Midwood as a school and location deserving of a new field. GSV also provided AstroTurf fields to the NFL for the Play 60 Youth Football Festival clinics held in New York City in April and September.

“We are proud to be part of this effort to provide young athletes throughout New York City with state-of-the-art synthetic turf systems that are safe, durable and environmentally friendly,” said Michael Dennis, GSV Chairman.  “We congratulate all the players and coaches competing for PSAL football championships, and hope they enjoy competing on the GameDay Grass at Midwood as much as we enjoyed providing it.”