The AstroTurf field at Ridgeland High School turns a year old in a few weeks, and though no party will be held on its behalf, head football coach Mark Mariakis would buy it a present and take it to dinner if he could.
Mariakis’ wife, Debbie, who coaches only from the stands, would chip in as well.
For the first time in recent memory, the Mariakis’ took off for vacation last week without having to make arrangements for someone to take over field maintenance duties. Make that fields. With the nearly maintenance-free field in place, Mark Mariakis no longer has to spend several hours each week taking care of the main field AND practice field.
That’s just one of the many reasons the veteran coach has no regrets in pushing for the installation of the synthetic field, the top of the line product from Dalton-based AstroTurf that has become a selling point for the company. When a college, or country, inquires about purchasing a field, a trip to Rossville often follows.
“They said they would make it a showcase field and they did,” Mariakis said. “We had folks in from Boston College recently and within the past two months we’ve had people fly in from Europe, Australia and Sweden. I knew the field would be a major improvement, but I it’s been better than we could ever expect.”