Courtesy of NBC Bay Area

Saratoga High’s field shot from above.

In the first installment of NBC Bay Area’s investigative series on artificial turf fields, Saratoga High’s field was featured in a December 2024 broadcast. 

The issue began when the school’s artificial turf underwent renovations over the summer of 2023. The lower field was being replaced, and after research revealed to me, Neha Tadikamalla and Aiden Chen that artificial turf was detrimental toward our and our athletes’ health because of issues with the field’s shock absorption and environmental concerns, we decided to do what we could advocate for replacing it with natural grass.

By the time summer had ended, our group had contacted the school administration, met with individual Saratoga City Council members, given public comments to the city council several times and regularly met with mentors from the Sierra Club — a nonprofit environmental organization the three of us had found through an outside youth environmental action club. At this time, school was starting up again, and we decided to finally become an official school club: the Environmental Action Club. 

In the months that followed, several adults from the Sierra Club brought the topic to Fremont High, and the Environmental Action Club visited several city council meetings across the Bay Area — including Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Palo Alto and San Mateo — asking city council members to ban artificial turf. 

Eventually, the movement gained enough traction that soccer teams across the Bay Area also started attending city council meetings in opposition. This is a strong coalition with many members, and their argument was that artificial turf allows young athletes to use it much more frequently, regardless of weather. While mud and water flooded grassy fields during rainy weeks, artificial turf can always be played on and requires no watering or other maintenance. The debate culminated in a major decision made by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28, in which over 100 people — including advocates from each side — presented public comments.

While the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors’ decision would only affect county property — and not city property or school fields like the football field here — their decision would symbolize the Bay Area’s stance on artificial turf and set an important precedent for the rest of the cities and school boards. 

In the end, our side lost by a 3-2 vote. While the ban was not passed, it may be possible to raise the issue of artificial turf again in the future. The Environmental Action Club, however, has decided to take a break from the issue and focus on other environmental issues, such as bright lights interrupting the night sky. Board of Supervisors President Otto Lee — who proposed the topic and voted in support of the ban — affirmed the board’s use of this opportunity to raise awareness about artificial turf, even if no conclusion was reached.

While we were unable to move the needle on the artificial turf situation locally, we grew not only in our leadership skills but also in our collaborative and social skills. Our efforts sparked a major environmental movement in Santa Clara County and is spreading to nearby counties, where residents are also questioning the use of turf. 

When we move to unfamiliar universities in the upcoming year, there is no doubt we might feel drowned in the multitude of voices as compared to our small high school campus. But the lesson we learned is that even big movements start slow, and our voice does matter.