In an effort to provide a championship-level experience to all DePaul student-athletes, and adequately service the needs of several university, club sport, and community partners, the Blue Demons recently completed a scheduled replacement of the Wish Field turf. 

Come Fall 2023, the DePaul soccer and softball programs will have a new playing surface with Field Turf's Vertex 2.5 turf product being installed. The new turf playing surface boasts a longer, 10-year life expectancy and represents Wish Field's first playing surface upgrade since 2014. FieldTurf is one of the pioneers in artificial turf, providing the safest turf system available today. The Vertex Core turf line is a three-layer infill with a hybrid fiber and SureLock backing. 
 

Isn't it stunnin' 🤩

Check out the newest update at DePaul Athletics ⬇️https://t.co/jNJzKilcpE pic.twitter.com/orBZw9wvUa

— DePaul Athletics (@DePaulAthletics) June 20, 2023

"Student-athlete health and well-being will always be our number one priority," said Vice President and Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy. "Annual compression and hardness testing began to show the playing surface was approaching the end of its useful life, in line with the turf's anticipated life expectancy and replacement schedule. Based on those findings, we began a nearly year and half long process to replace the surface with our partner, FieldTurf. We're excited to get Wish Field back online so it may continue to serve our student-athletes, physical education classes, club sport programs and Lincoln Park community rentals." 

Aside from the impact on safety, the new playing surface will better accommodate the wear and tear from heavy utilization from a variety of university and community programs. The new turf is also a welcome improvement to DePaul Athletics' soccer and softball programs.  

"The turf replacement will be a game-changer for our team," said men's soccer head coach Mark Plotkin. "A newer, high quality turf surface will provide a better experience for our student-athletes and a more attractive product for fans to see. This enhances the environment at Wish Field and we can't wait to show it off this fall."   

"Our program is really looking forward to starting the 2023 season on the new and updated turf," said women's soccer head coach Michele O'Brien. "The replacement was definitely necessary, and we know the players will enjoy the way this surface plays. It's great that we have now have a beautiful field to play on and want to thank the athletic department for making this happen for our programs who compete on Wish Field." 

"Our team is very excited about the field updates at Cacciatore Stadium," said softball head coach Tracie Adix-Zins. "With one of the most unique college softball venues in the country, DePaul has been thrilled to display this storied facility in multiple linear television broadcasts in the past few seasons and we look forward to showcasing our new and improved field to Blue Demon fans for seasons to come."