I sat at an athletic team booster’s meeting one night last month and listened to all the reasons why raising money for an artificial turf field is a good idea.

It was explained that the high school’s grass fields are over used and can’t get the rest they need. There are a number of injuries that could be avoided on a turf field. Grass takes longer to dry out after rain, and some communities already have artificial fields while others are considering them. If we want our teams to stay competitive, we have to change the playing field.

My initial reaction while listening to the presentation was we must be out of our collective minds.

I thought those are all good reasons but wondered how did we get to this point where people are seriously considering raising close to $500,000 for our kids to play games. Why are we always out doing ourselves? When are we going to say enough is enough and realize bigger is not necessarily better? Why isn’t a grass field good enough for our kids to play on? We played on grass fields, and sometimes we played pick-up games right in front of our houses. That was good enough for us. Wasn’t it?

But maybe we decided it wasn’t good enough. It could be we want to give our kids opportunities we never had, just like our parents said they wanted to do for us. We decided to become more involved in our kids’ lives. So instead of telling our kids to go outside to find something to play just like we were told by our parents, we told them to get in the car and we’d bring them to someone who will show them what and how to play. We signed them up for toddler and youth sports camps and clinics where they learned the rules of the game from an adult who learned how to play the game when he was their age from other kids his own age or a little older.

With our guidance, kids’ sports became more organized and the term pick-up game became a thing of the past. Kids learned the rules of the game, and, hopefully, with the help of a good coach, they also learned the value of teamwork, sportsmanship, problem solving and leadership. With more teams to compete against, they played more games than we ever dreamed of playing when we were their age.

With all that experience, it was just a matter of time before the level of the playing field was changed from when we were kids. Now, by the time kids get to high school, a high level of competition is already established and ready to be played out on the fields. We are told artificial turf is in the future for some communities, and if we want our kids to stay competitive, raising money for a field here is just the next logical step. I do realize though that a lot of communities don’t have the luxury of being so logical.

I can wonder all I want traveling from game to game if our decision to change the way our kids play sports is a step in the right direction. I don’t think it’s realistic to think though that we can back step to the way we played sports when we were kids. We have invested too much time, energy and money into kids’ sports creating a high level of competition to turn back now. But I also have to wonder where it will all end. I honestly haven’t decided if a turf field is money well spent and if we are out of our collective minds to even consider it.

I guess I will withhold judgment until the estimated cost of the dome comes in.