With three and a half weeks until football practice, the new FieldTurf surface at Selah High School’s Karl Graf Field is on pace to be ready for fall play with a huge reminder where spectators are.

Stamped with a giant Vikings head and the words Karl Graf Field in the middle of the field, the nearly $3.2-million project will make Selah the fourth school in the CWAC to transition to an artificial surface.

With four teams – football, boys and girls soccer, and club lacrosse – using the field, the natural grass surface would only hold up so long.

“There’s not much living grass by the end of the season,” said Vikings football coach Greg Haste, who is entering his second season. “It’s kind of amazing how it revives itself.”

The project launched in mid-April, sending the boys soccer team to Sozo for its home games, while the lacrosse squad played road games all season.

Artificial turf eliminates the maintenance costs and the muddy conditions of the field. After less than a decade, the project will have paid for itself in savings from the upkeep of the grass field.

An artificial surface also allows the Vikings to host games deeper into the postseason.

“You want to be on grass, but it’s tough with just so many sports teams,” Haste said. “Even our practice area for football is rough by the end of the season.”

Haste also said having yard lines permanently on the field will help the team game plan.

An added bonus for the players – white pants. Haste stuck with navy and gold pants with the grass field.

“I would never buy white game pants, so they’re excited about wearing white pants,” he said.

Selah football opens the season Sept. 4 at Ephrata, with the first game at Karl Graf Field on Sept. 11. The Vikings girls soccer team is slated for its home debut Sept. 12.

District athletic director Becky Gause said soccer and lacrosse lines have been sewn into the field.

Graf Field joins Grandview’s Rich Leenhouts Stadium, Toppenish’s Bob Winters Field and Quincy’s Jaycee Stadium with artificial fields that have the school’s mascot at midfield. East Valley, Ellensburg, Ephrata, Othello and Prosser still play on grass.

All but one field in the CBBN is artificial. Moses Lake started the move in 2008 when its Lions Field became the only field in Eastern Washington other than Pullman’s Martin Stadium and Pasco’s Edgar Brown Stadium to have FieldTurf installed. The Mavericks field was redone in 2021.

Yakima’s Zaepfel Stadium – shared by Davis and Eisenhower for football – was next to install FieldTurf in 2014, with Wenatchee’s Apple Bowl following the next year. Sunnyside opened its new stadium with an artificial field in 2021, while West Valley unveiled the face lift to Clasen Field in 2024.

Eastmont's Wildcat Stadium is still a natural field.

Royal is the lone SCAC team with an artificial surface, which opened in 2008 and was updated a few years ago.

Funding for the field’s installation comes from the district’s capital projects fund, and includes remaining state match dollars from previously approved improvements.

Teacher pay and day-to-day operations come from the general fund.