Golden Gate and Palmetto Ridge will play football Friday at Immokalee High.
After that, their nomad days should end.
A manufacturing defect in the synthetic TigerTurf led to delays in installation at both schools and forced the Titans and Bears to move their home games to neighboring Collier County facilities.
While Golden Gate?s turf is expected to be ready by Tuesday, according to athletic director Pete Seitz, a TigerTurf representative said its product will arrive at Palmetto Ridge early next week.
That means Palmetto Ridge?s homecoming on Sept. 24 won?t be an away-coming.
?I don?t allow it to frustrate me,? Palmetto Ridge athletic director Trent Holt said. ?It is what it is. I can?t change it. But it does make my job more difficult.?
Seitz added, ?It?s unfortunate that it happened, but it?s not anybody?s fault or not something anybody did intentionally. You can either get upset or figure out the best path to take.?
TigerTurf is a different surface than what was laid down at other Collier County Schools the past few years. Based in Austin, Texas, TigerTurf has been in business 28 years and has operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, according to chief sales officer Chuck Fleishman.
ProGrass, whose workers install the field, notified TigerTurf of the defect.
?We noticed a defect that we didn?t see in the plant under light,? Fleishman said. ?When you add heat and humidity, it didn?t work as far as the backings go so we immediately replaced them.
?It was like, ?Whoa, whoa, whoa, we don?t like that. You know what? We don?t want to give them a bad field, so let?s pull it up and put in a new field. At least they know our warranty is good. We just didn?t expect it to be this soon.?
Fleishman said the warranty for the turf is eight years, but with proper maintenance and normal wear-and-tear, it should last longer than that.
The schools also will be reimbursed for lost ticket, parking and concession sales and travel costs their staffs had to make.
Golden Gate coach Steve Crowley said playing away from home hasn?t been a big deal. ?Our kids are mature and not concerned with it,? he said.
Joe Kemper, coordinator of interscholastic athletics in Collier County, said this is a short-term problem.
?In a couple of weeks, when we get into Weeks 5, 6 or 7, it?ll all be a memory. They?ll be happy with the turf they got.?
Wednesday’s roundup
GIRLS GOLF
CAPE CORAL 148, SOUTH FORT MYERS NTS (5 Holes)
Royal Tee, Par 36
CAPE CORAL: Regina Sim 20, Carrier McDonald 40, Gwendolyn Sanabaria 43, Shivani Desai 45
SOUTH: Fort Myers Rachel Adams 35
RECORDS: Cape Coral 2-0
BOYS GOLF
South Fort Myers 81, Cape Coral 142, East Lee County NTS
Royal Tee, Par 36
(Teams only played five holes because of weather)
SOUTH: Austin Schultz 1-over 21, Joey Jamison 22, Alec Carlisle 23, David Triana 23
CAPE CORAL: Lawrence 24, Langford 25, Nowall 30, Maranack 31
EAST LEE: Joe Melendez 24, Brandon Manville 33
RECORDS: South Fort Myers 1-0, Cape Coral 0-1, East Lee County 0-1
Tuesday’s roundup
GIRLS SWIMMING
Estero 149, Riverdale 88, Palmetto Ridge 79
200 medley relay: Estero 2:03.93; 200 free: DuBrasky (E) 2:00.53; 200 IM: Lawson (E) 2:22.09; 50 free: Faunce (E) 27.97; Diving: Bond (PR); 100 fly: DeVeny (E) 1:04.53; 100 free: Lawson (E) 59.09; 500 free: DuBrasky (E) 5:06.37; 200 free relay: Estero 1:53.65; 100 back: Faunce (E) 1:08.00; 100 breast: Fournier (PR) 1:10.35; 400 free relay: Estero 4:19.93
Cape Coral 94,
South Fort Myers 75
200 medley relay: Cape Coral 2:12.22; 200 free: Angelitta (CC) 2:09.63; 200 IM: Fisher (SFM) 2:23.91; 5O free: Javorowsky (SFM) 29.13; 100 fly: Steakley (CC) 1:14.66; 100 free: Santiago (SFM) 1:15.66; 500 free: Jaeger 5:37.38 (CC); 200 free relay: SFM 2:10.15; 100 back: Langford (CC) 1:10.78; 100 breast: Fisher (SFM) 1:17.91; 400 free relay: Cape Coral 4:08.71.
BOYS SWIMMING
Estero 142, Palmetto Ridge 88, Riverdale 81
200 medley relay: Estero 1:54.34; 200 free: Snew (E) 1:50.65; 200 IM: Snew (E) 2:02.68; 50 free: McCaw (E) 24.18; Diving: Indart (PR); 100 fly: Palmetto Ridge 58.88; 100 free: McCaw (E) 57.25; 500 free: Zacka (E) 5:16.18; 200 free relay: Estero 1:46.96; 100 back: Zacka (E) 1:03.12; 100 breast: Latorre (E) 1:10.18; 400 free relay: Estero 3:52.93
Cape Coral 105,
South Fort Myers 64
200 medley relay: Cape Coral 1:48.50; 200 free: Murza (CC) 2:03.94; 200 IM: Dall (CC) 2:21.06; 50 free: Keating (CC) 24.59; 100 fly: Bradley (SFM) 1:02.69; 100 free: Thresher (CC) 54.62; 500 free: Carter (CC) 6:21.24; 200 free relay: South Fort Myers 1:43.46; 100 back: Bradley (SFM) 1:00.97; 100 breast: Murza (CC) 1:11.18; 400 free relay: Cape Coral 3:44.65.