There's much more to planning a football field besides deciding what type of grass seed to plant. Choosing a method of grading your field is vital. The illustration below shows one widely used method of grading. This method eliminates the feeling that you're running uphill for half the field and downhill on the other half. The slope is crucial to ensure that water can run off of the field instead of piling up in one place. Planning a good slope is vital unless you enjoy playing in a mud bowl.


Besides implementing a well thought out grading it is important to fully prepare the field for water drainage. Even if you have a properly graded field in heavy rainfall it gets soupy. The illustration below shows strip drains which intercept and remove surface water as it moves across the field.

For best drainage it is important to avoid over compaction of the soil surround the drain. This will ensure that water can properly be removed by the drains. Proper installation of strip drains is shown in the following diagram.