When John Sorochan thinks about how to keep athletes safe, he starts by looking under his feet.
“My lens is from the ground up,” says Sorochan, UT’s Distinguished Professor of Turfgrass Science and Management. “Whether it’s a K–12 athletic field to the highest-level FIFA World Cup final pitch, what can we do to make sure that FIFA pitch or that little youth field or community park is as consistent and uniform as possible?”
Sorochan and his team at UT have spent more than two decades applying their cutting-edge research to help create the highest-quality natural turfgrass fields that allow players to perform at their best in the safest way possible.
“If we can have a uniform, consistent surface when athletes are playing, you’re going to eliminate one layer of the potential to get hurt.”
In this pursuit, UT’s team of turfgrass researchers have embarked on their most ambitious project to date. FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, tapped Sorochan to lead a five-year research program that supports the design, installation, and management of the 16 stadium pitches and dozens of training fields required for the FIFA World Cup 26™ tournament.
UT and Michigan State University are working collaboratively to create the perfect natural grass pitches for the global sports spectacle, which will take place in summer 2026 across cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The 48-team competition extends through three climatic zones, presenting researchers with an array of factors to address for each pitch.
Sorochan and his team will be sharing the knowledge they gain from their work with FIFA, along with their years of previous research, with college, high school, youth, and recreational field managers. The goal is to make playing surfaces as safe as possible for athletes in all sports played on turfgrass.
“You’ll see the information we collect at the highest level start to trickle down,” says Kyley Dickson, researcher and co-director of UT’s Center for Athletic Field Safety. “We’re going to have information that these field managers can start to use to make selections that they didn’t know about in the past. They can implement what may work best for them within their budget.”
Kyley Dickson and John Sorochan with the fLEX Device.
More consistency, fewer injuries
Through their extensive research, study, and in-person evaluations, UT’s team of turfgrass experts have identified three major components for athletic safety: the player, the surface, and the footwear. All three must be aligned to decrease the risk of injury. If players wear the wrong cleats on a certain type of grass or artificial surface, it may increase their chances of injury. If weather changes the field conditions, proper footwear selection can help mitigate risk.
UT’s turfgrass research shows that the consistency of the surface is perhaps the most important element. Among the most common sources of injuries on playing fields, according to Sorochan and Dickson, are the transitions between soft and hard spots.
“Our body is very good at accounting for things when it knows what’s coming, so making sure there is less variability for a playing surface is key,” Dickson says. “We’ve been doing a lot of different measurements leading up to the World Cup at the different locations to try and get some measure of uniformity while also making sure athletes are able to make the athletic maneuvers they are trying to make without falling or slipping. We want them to be able to perform and be safe.”
Jason McVeigh, UT’s senior associate athletics director of sports medicine and sports performance, has seen just about every sports-related injury imaginable during his career. He says the most common injuries on field surfaces tend to involve ankles, knees, hips, and muscles.
“The interaction with the surface that you’re playing on has something to do with that,” McVeigh says. “The more consistency that you have in a sport where they do a lot of change of direction and high-speed running, the more an athlete can hopefully be better prepared for the movement they’re going to make and not caught off guard by something they aren’t anticipating to where there’s an increased contributor to a possible injury.”
Lady Vol Ally Zazzara in action.
Flexing their data muscles
Seeing a need across several sports for a better way to test turfgrass surfaces, Sorochan and Dickson developed an innovative tool to assess field conditions. The fLEX Device is a state-of-the-art portable instrument that replicates player-to-turf interaction using a cleat equipped with high-precision sensors. The device provides performance analysis and testing data to athletic teams and turf managers that can be used to make informed decisions, especially when it comes to player safety and surface performance.
The researchers have used the device on hundreds of fields around the world. It tells them what the surface does and how it reacts to a foot striking it while measuring the loads being put back on the foot of the athlete. They can change out the cleats to experiment with different loads and different levels of traction. Once a field is fully assessed, they can create a heat map that identifies weak points or potential injury hazards.
The fLEX Device assessment allows them to determine the best footwear for athletes to wear on different surfaces under different conditions—much as race car teams select tires to balance traction and speed.
“It’s the same thing with cleats and surfaces. You need to match up the cleat to the surface, especially with synthetic fields,” Dickson says. “Sometimes you can get way too much traction on a surface, and sometimes you don’t get enough.”
The fLEX Device uses an actual cleat along with an array of sensors to test the turf.
Experts in their (playing) field
As one of the foremost experts in turfgrass science and management, Sorochan has worked with professional leagues including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer. For the past 15 years, he’s represented the NFL Players Association in safety and field performance concerns. He inspects NFL fields and is on committees within the NFL working to make natural and artificial fields better and safer.
Tyler Morris, the head sports field manager for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the New York Giants and New York Jets play, appreciates the work UT’s group has done to improve athlete safety. MetLife Stadium is set to host the final match of FIFA World Cup 26 on July 19, 2026.
“You’re never going to have a pro athlete without the high school athlete,” Morris says. “So if you start with the pro athlete, making sure they’re safe, and then you can try and get the high school fields to match that—they’re never going to be the same, but if you can get them close, I think that that’s obviously important.”
Travis Hogan, the director of turf management for the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, another FIFA World Cup 26 venue, hopes the work UT’s turfgrass team is doing leading up to the tournament can provide more data to improve field quality overall.
“Everything we do is for player safety, whether it’s NFL, whether it’s soccer—any event that we have in our stadium—we want to provide the safest, most consistent field possible,” Hogan says. “I think that all the research that [UT’s team] is doing for FIFA and making sure that 16 different venues are as close to the same as possible gives athletes the best chance of knowing what they’re going to walk into and play on.”
Maintenance matters
The fields being used for FIFA World Cup 26 will all be natural grass, with reinforcements to provide structure for a more consistent surface. The varieties of grass that have been bred and maintained for athletic field performance are grown to meet FIFA’s specifications, with high traction and the ability to recover. For fields inside a dome, the turf will have vacuum ventilation systems underneath to pull water out or push air through. If needed, grow lights can supplement sunshine.
Financially, only the top professional leagues in the world—and potentially some universities—can afford to maintain the types of natural grass field being used for the World Cup. Many high school, middle school, and recreational locations have installed artificial surfaces, which are generally more cost efficient and are playable under nearly all weather conditions.
But, Sorochan says, field managers should be aware of the upkeep of artificial surfaces, because even those that don’t look worn on the surface may need maintenance for safety purposes. From their assessments with the fLEX Device, Sorochan and Dickson have found spots on artificial fields where inconsistencies can lead to injuries.
“They say there is less maintenance; there actually should be more maintenance, or just as much maintenance,” Sorochan says. “The more these city fields or high school fields get used, you want to make sure you are trying to redistribute it better. If you could map it and say, ‘This area is getting different, let’s go and manage those areas,’ that is the ideal solution.”
UT’s researchers realize the importance of artificial field safety in sports considering how many athletes perform on that type of field each day worldwide. They want to make sure a lack of data doesn’t elevate players’ chance of injury.
“How can you extend the life of these that could help that high school field last three to four more years?” Dickson asks. “When you’re talking about a $500,000 to $800,000 redo, that’s quite a bit of money. Any way you can extend the life of the field and keep athletes safe is significantly beneficial.”
Preparing to install turfgrass on top of permavoid—high-strength modular cells that help with drainage—at the East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center.
Seeking healthy outcomes
The variables involved when athletes suffer injuries—on grass or artificial turf fields—are plentiful. From weather conditions to footwear to body type to surface wear, there is no way to predict every potential outcome. But the research being done at UT can provide guidance that is backed by science and data.
“I’ve known Dr. Sorochan for a number of years, and it’s a complicated problem that he’s trying to solve,” McVeigh says. “So I think it’s great that there’s a lot of attention being put into it; there’s resources being dedicated to it. It’s not a simple answer . . . so it will take some time. But I think you can’t get there unless you start somewhere.”
McVeigh is thankful to have UT’s cutting-edge turfgrass research at his fingertips as a resource to help keep the athletes he supports safe.
“It’s just great to be at a university where one of the leading experts is in our backyard if we do have questions,” McVeigh says. “Over the years, I’ve reached out to Dr. Sorochan a number of times to find out what the new literature might be, or to ask for his input on—whether it’s an injury pattern that we’ve seen or some question we may have.”
A former athlete himself, Sorochan understands the wide-ranging ramifications of injuries. They could end a player’s career or sidetrack a team’s season. They could cause a few weeks of pain or lead to joint damage later in life.
Regardless of who’s playing, Sorochan wants to help provide the safest field surface possible for optimal performance. He wants to ensure that his team’s work enhances the experience for everyone on the field, from the World Cup MVP to the 10-year-old playing her first game.
“We want people playing sports and being active,” Sorochan says. “If they don’t get hurt, they can stay active the rest of their life. They will be less likely to develop significant health conditions and will have a better quality of life. We don’t take that lightly with our work, no matter what level of athlete.”
The Lady Vol soccer team practices on the turfgrass pitch at Regal Stadium during FIFA Pitch Research Field Day.
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Delve into UT’s research to create the best and most consistent pitches for FIFA World Cup 26.