There have been many discussions over the decision by the CFL to shorten the playing field in recent months, and that’s especially true in Regina in recent days as the installation of new turf takes place at Mosaic Stadium.
Specifically, the decision to stitch the lines in place rather than painting them on the field per the needs of each user group — with the change from 100 yards to 110 yards to accommodate Football Canada standards the biggest difference.
TSN’s Farhan Lalji joined the SportsCage on Friday afternoon and related his experiences with B.C. Place over the years as a member of the B.C. high school football board of directors.
His initial take? For the purposes of television and looking as professional as possible, stitched is better for the perimeter lines, and if costs and time can be managed, painting the interior lines on a per user basis can work.
“(Stitched lines) present better, it's brighter, it pops more for the fans that are in the stadium as well as on television, so they should (put them in),” Lalji said. “When you decide to paint in every bit of lining and marking in, I think the cost can escalate. It's not just the lines, it's all the hash marks, it's all the field numbers and things like that.”
Melissa Coderre, the city's manager of sport and major events, joined the SportsCage later to talk about the project and added that time constraints are a major factor, especially with the quick turnaround needed in some cases.
“If we painted, it would take six to eight hours to paint and by the time it was dry and ready, it would be 18 hours later,” she said.
Lalji has extensive experience dealing with B.C. Place in a similar situation.
B.C. high school football plays with American rules, and use the Vancouver stadium for their provincial semifinals and finals. That means the field is painted over from 110 yards to 100 yards every season to accommodate that change. And then there are the Vancouver Whitecaps, who strip the field bare with just soccer lines for their MLS contests.
That all takes time and money, though, neither of which are completely necessary to spend in most cases — outside of professional sports and and elite major events, Lalji felt the major concern should simply be function over presentation.
“There's been years for B.C. high school football where we couldn't turn it over fast enough or didn't want to pay to turn it over fast enough, and we literally taped down additional lines with thick enough markings,” he said. “It's got to look right for a large crowd. It's got to look right for television. For the other sports, it's got to be accessible. It's got to be functional, but it doesn't have to look the same.”
Asked if going to a Hockey Canada model where you play in the facility as it is even if it’s smaller or bigger than normal, Lalji was all for it.
“Football Canada would be really wise to do that,” he said. “It would make the game portable to more setups than what it currently takes.”
You can check out the full conversations with Lalji and Coderre below:
