There are colored football fields, then there's this.

[hockey week]

That's it, we've officially crossed the line on colored football fields.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/most-unique-football-field-america-high-school-utah-102327656.html

The most unique football field in America is at a school in Utah

By Cameron Smith7 hours ago

The Diamond Ranch Academy football field may be the nation's most unique — Diamondbacks football

There are plenty of unique football fields in prep football, be they red, blue or even black. At the end of the day, there's currently not much room for innovation in the realm of artistic expression on high school fields.

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The Diamond Ranch athletic facilities are among Utah's best — Diamond Ranch Academy

Perhaps that will change once more people catch sight ofthe football field at Diamond Ranch Academy, a Hurricane, Utah residential treatment center for struggling youth which features a full, 100-yard center strip stylized after the school's Diamondback mascot. The center of the field design fills the entire space between the left and right hashmark for the entire length of the field.

As brought to Prep Rally's attention by USA Today, Diamond Ranch's unique field is part of a new facility project that the school completed as a wholesale upgrade to it's expansive campus. The fall 2013 season has seen the Diamondbacks host four games on the stripped turf already.

There's really nothing like the black-and-yellow patterned turf in high school football, at least to Prep Rally's knowledge. As far as we know, there isn't a similar facility in college football either, and Diamond Ranch claims that the "logo" -- i.e., the enormous field-long strip -- is the largest on any football field in the country.
In fact, the closest thing to the Diamondbacks' new turf may be this mythical field from the Oliver Stone movie 'Any Given Sunday', albeit with the elongated strip produced horizontally rather than vertically. Even the fabricated Dallas Knights' field wasn't as cool looking as Diamond Ranch Academy's.

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Diamond Ranch's full-field design strip is like a yellow brick road to the end zone — Diamond Ranch Academy

Will the Diamond Ranch field revolutionize field design in high school football? Only time will tell. It certainly can't hurt, and it might just keep away the prospect of fuscia-tinted turf for a few more years, too.

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I think it's crazy, distracting, and going to be really tough on referees spotting the ball. The school should be pressured to replace it as soon as possible, only given time to budget. Every interscholastic and intercollegiate governing board in the country needs to enact rules requiring approval for anything other than a 10-yard midfield logo and grass-green turf on new football fields before this gets worse.

[pianoknight]

I agree about this creating a slippery slope of fields getting more and more crazy.

Overall, I can't fault them on the design - it's actually pretty well executed - but the notion of other schools following suit has me worried. The turfs at Boise State and Eastern Washington are hard enough on the eyes without creating any confusing patterns that clash with the yard markers. This goes well beyond that line.

From the field-level, it's not too bad honestly. But from a broadcast/stadium/television perspective, it's absolutely atrocious.

[BrianLion]

that field will look cool up until the point the school's QB starts missing wide open WR's downfield because their uniforms blend in with the turf and he can't see them. .

[hailstateunis]

that field will look cool up until the point the school's QB starts missing wide open WR's downfield because their uniforms blend in with the turf and he can't see them. .

Using this logic, teams with Green uniforms should've had this problem for years.

[Raysfan12]

It isn't actually that bad compared to most colored fields. At least the field is mostly green so it wouldn't be too bad on the eyes and it isn't overdone like Boise or Eastern Washington. I actually feel that this is a better solution than redecorating an entire field.

[TheOldRoman]

that field will look cool up until the point the school's QB starts missing wide open WR's downfield because their uniforms blend in with the turf and he can't see them. .

Using this logic, teams with Green uniforms should've had this problem for years.

Not this crap again. No teams, to my knowledge, have ever used grass-colored uniforms. Grass is not forest green or kelly green. You can easily tell the difference between those colors and grass, whereas it would be hard to distinguish black/yellow jerseys from that awful black/yellow background when players are in motion.

[pianoknight]

It isn't actually that bad compared to most colored fields. At least the field is mostly green so it wouldn't be too bad on the eyes and it isn't overdone like Boise or Eastern Washington. I actually feel that this is a better solution than redecorating an entire field.

I would like it much better if the pattern was more subtle. I'm not a professional field designer, but basically the equivalent of turning the Opacity setting down to 50% in Photoshop.

[St Louis Cardinals]

Trying to see you recievers shouldn't be an issue at all. Maybe the fans would have a problem, but the quarterback would not. He's at field view, so he almost doesn't see the turf when looking at his recievers

[GFB]

If they would have just used two shades of green turf instead, that would have been an awesome field.

[Lights Out]

You know, a similar design without the pattern could work for a school like Illinois:

(Based on Mr. Nascar's template)

[WizKid]

You know, a similar design without the pattern could work for a school like Illinois:

(Based on Mr. Nascar's template)

That second one could actually work. Subtle and simple

[cappital92]

I'm glad this is turf, because if it were grass, that striping would be eroded to nothing the first game they'd play in the rain.

[DustDevil61]

I think my hometown's HS's team (Kanab) plays in the same conference and division.

This actually is actually well-executed. It's restrained, it's not as blinding as Eastern Washington's all-red field, but it's definitely something different. Also, considering that Diamond Ranch's colors are Green, Yellow, and Black, it's actually true to their colors. Would I like to see stuff like this become the norm? No,* but maybe this becomes a palatable alternative to all-color fields, using helmet stripe patterns or solid-color strips like Lights Out did. I could see something like this working very well for Northwestern.

*Considering the likelihood that someone, somewhere goes absolutely nuts with a design and makes something vomit-inducing.

[Raysfan12]

You know, a similar design without the pattern could work for a school like Illinois:

(Based on Mr. Nascar's template)

The second field is just gold. Subtle yet recognizable for Illinois fans. I would also love to see sublimated midfield logos similar to LSU's new basketball court

[eliasrappaport]

that field will look cool up until the point the school's QB starts missing wide open WR's downfield because their uniforms blend in with the turf and he can't see them. .

Using this logic, teams with Green uniforms should've had this problem for years.

Is this why my Eagles can't win the superbowl?

[LAWeaver]

You know, a similar design without the pattern could work for a school like Illinois:

(Based on Mr. Nascar's template)

Glad somebody is using my template

I could see teams going with crazy fields and colored courts and even rinks, though that last one nay not be as good of an idea. I remember seeing something where a HS in Oregon or something has a black field because it was cheaper than the green turf because rubber is naturally black and costs extra to color it like Boise State or Eastern Washington does or any other school with turf.

[wyopokes2]

You know, a similar design without the pattern could work for a school like Illinois:

(Based on Mr. Nascar's template)

The second field is just gold. Subtle yet recognizable for Illinois fans. I would also love to see sublimated midfield logos similar to LSU's new basketball court

I agree with you there. I love Arizona's sublimated field:

[shaydre1019]

that field will look cool up until the point the school's QB starts missing wide open WR's downfield because their uniforms blend in with the turf and he can't see them. .

Have you ever played football in your life?

And really the only stupid thing about this field IMO, is how "diamond" and "backs" are separate.

Like UT putting "long" in one endzone and "horns" in the other.

[29texan]

Although I am mostly against "anything but green colored" fields, I have to say that I actually LIKE this. It's not like the entire field looks like this.

It's different and kinda crazy... but it actually works. It doesn't sore my eyes and fits with the team, at least. Good job.

[SJAnfield]

I hate the non traditional colored fields, but I really like this. Maybe its because its only in between the hash marks, but I think it looks really good and isn't annoying like Boise or Eastern Washington. I don't want to see a slew of schools copy-cat, but this is quite innovative.