Repainting The Soccer Fields

When you come by my house I can probably tell you most of what there is to repainting in two minutes - still it is useful to spend the ten minutes to read this page ("Marco's Dissertation" as David Lesikar called it.)

At A Glance

Every week (30 minutes to an hour, each repainting volunteer does two or three weeks.)
Shake spray cans vigorously for about a minute.
Walk slowly.
Just push the machine forward. Trying to make little course corrections will result in a wiggly line.
Wear clothes & shoes that don't matter. Paint may not come off.
Weekly Paint Use
Duveneck School (1 medium field, 60x40) 6-9 cans
El Carmelo School (2 small fields, 35x25): 6-9 cans
Escondido School (2 small fields, 45x30): 8-11 cans
Fairmeadow School (2 small fields, 30x20): 5-7 cans
Greer Park, fields #3 and #4, 2 full-size fields, 100x70: 30 cans
Hoover Park (4 small fields, 45x30): 16-22 cans
Hoover School (2 small fields, 35x25): 6-9 cans
JLS Middle School, field #4 (full-size field, 100x70): 15 cans
Nixon School (2 small fields, 35x25): 6-9 cans
Palo Verde School (2 small fields, 30x20): 5-7 cans
Ohlone School (1 medium field, 60x40) 6-9 cans
Robles Park (1 medium field, 60x40) 6-9 cans
Seale Park (1 medium field, 80x50): 8-12 cans - Spring only
Terman Middle School, 2 full-size fields, 100x70): 30 cans
Walter Hays School (2 small fields, 30x20): 5-7 cans
Fields Locations

Why Repainting?

The watering, sunshine and use wear down the lines on the soccer fields, but it's mostly the grass growing and the mowers cutting off the painted tips of the blades of grass that makes the lines disappear. In two weeks' time the lines will be almost gone: that's why the fields need to be repainted every week of the season.
Most locations take about 45 minutes to one hour for one repainter. If even one week is skipped, the lines may almost have disappeared by the second week, and laying out a field anew will take a team of six at least an hour, probably longer.

Teams

The first repainter will pick up a machine and paint at my house, an may keep it for his or her turn, and then the second repainter should pick it up from the first, and so on. Do not drop off a machine at the next repainter. The last repainter returns the machine and leftover paint to me.
When it's your turn to start repainting, please contact the repainter before you on the schedule about picking up the machine and any leftover paint. Please do that early in the week to avoid a missed connection on Friday.
When your repainting turn is over, the next repainter should contact you about picking up the machine and any remaining paint. If you haven't heard by Wednesday, please send him or her a reminder, and cc your team's coordinator. We cannot miss one week of repainting.

Machines

The black machines fold up for easy transport. Don't stack them, it may damage the rubber windshield; put them on their sides if you're transporting more than one. Please be careful with the cable when folding and unfolding. When you unfold the machine, tighten all wing nuts. (It may take half a minute, but believe me, pushing a machine with a loose handle is annoying.)
If a wing nut comes off and gets lost, there is a spare on a string at the bottom of the machine. Send me an email if you need to pick up a new wing nut at my house - or it may take less time to go by the hardware store yourself (1/4 - 20 wing nut.)
When there's a problem with your machine, contact me, or come by my house for an exchange or a full refund (leave a note about what's wrong with the machine.)
Please don't overload the machines, and don't let children play with them. Replacing bent axles takes a lot of time.
[The red machines in the picture are not in use anymore.]

Repainting The Lines

Check on your field's lines early in the week. If they're already faint you could ask a coach for his cones to mark the field, or you could mark spots with field paint to guide the later repainting. - I've done that some years ago, but considering the time and paint spent I might as well have just repainted the field, maybe walk a little less slow. Repaint again by the end of the week, and remember to walk slower, use more paint next time.
Shake paint spray can vigorously for about a minute. You can hold one in each hand. Take off cap and put spray can in machine; the latest nozzle slides into the correct position almost by itself. Sometimes the nozzle comes off when you remove the cap, just put it back on.
Almost every time, the nozzle slides into the slot correctly by itself, but with the hundreds of cans we use, occasionally the nozzle hits the slot reptacle exactly perpendicularly, and ends up on top of it. This will give you a narrow line of paint, not the wide line we prefer; but worse is that with the nozzle in this position the lever doesn't have much give, can only be pulled a short distance. When you try to pull the lever as you're used to, the cable may come loose (or break) and then you'll have to spend time to get a replacement machine and I'll have to spend time repairing the machine.
My recommendation is to pay a little attention to positioning the nozzle and always to pull the lever gently.
Walk the machine very slowly, toddler-speed, with the spray can nozzle right on top of the old line, pull lever to apply paint, walk slowly to apply a good layer of paint that will penetrate to the roots of the grass. Your walking speed determines how thick the paint is laid on. A can of paint should last about 50 to 70 yards. You'll also notice the sound change and clouds of white vapor when your can is almost empty. Replace cap and put empty cans upside-down in box.
Resist the temptation to "oversteer" the machine when going in a straight line. The 4 wheels do a very good job of keeping you going straight if you've started out heading in the right direction. Just pull the lever and push the machine forward. If you try to "micro manage" the steering (making little course corrections), you will invariably end up with a squiggly line.
You may try shakin a can in one hand while pushing the machine with the other hand. Some repainters do and tell me their lines are straight. The instructions indeed say "just push the machine forward," - but it's not for everyone. I myself can't do it.
Slightly lifting the machine off of the rear wheels makes it much easier to paint the tight curves in the corner arcs and for following the center circle and penalty arcs lines.
Having the sun at your back will give you a clearer view of the old lines.
Most of the small fields are laid out parallel to each other. It is most efficient to repaint the short lines here in one straight walk (with interruptions of paint spraying), that should take less time than making the many turns of repainting each of these fields separately. ( The two fields at Hoover School and Palo Verde School are not parallel.)
Don't worry about using too much paint. Better too much than too little! But don't spend extra paint on dirt. It will scatter with the sand when the kids run over it.
If you do make an error in painting that you want to correct, the bottom of your shoe makes a wonderful eraser while the paint is still fresh!
Do not forget to repaint:
- corner arcs,
- mid-goal line
- mid-point on center line
- and penalty spot (only at Ohlone, Duveneck and Robles.)
Let me know if these features are missing in your field and I'll come by to lay them out again (only if there is grass.)
In some fields there are dangerous spots like the caps of irrigation control boxes, sewers or storm drains. Please mark them with the field paint, so the referees can spot them easily to put in orange cones.
If your last can is almost empty when you're done with the field, please empty it completely, repaint some line a second time. Empty cans are preferred for disposal.
Please remove garbage like plastic bottles etc. from the fields, and also try to remove dog waste etc, we don't want that on our children's feet, let alone their hands. Bring plastic bags and maybe some paperboard from cereal boxes if the stuff needs scraping off. If the fields are clean, people are less likely to litter, on a garbage-strewn field people care less.
Painting lines Saturday morning is not a good idea. The grass will be wet from dew and/or sprinkling, and it will be chilly, so the paint will dry slowly and will probably still be wet when the first game starts. Paint may get on the uniforms, and the lines may smudge as the paint is spread when the players step on it.
Of course, Saturday morning repainting is better than no repainting, but try to avoid it.
If you sometimes get caught in traffic on Fridays, it would be better to plan your repainting on Thursdays.
Please DO NOT return empty cans to my house. I do not have an AYSO garbage allotment.
It is not wrong to put the empty cans in your garbage, but it would be better to dispose of them in the City's Household Hazardous Waste Program. It's usually on the first Saturday of the month, 9 AM - 12 PM. The cans will be emptied and the metal recycled.
The paint may be especially formulated for grass, but where it really has staying power is on fabric and leather. Be very careful or wear old clothes and shoes where it doesn't matter. Also remove spray can from machine before putting it into a car, to avoid painting your trunk there.

Teams and Blocks or Alternating Duties?

Most repainters work by themselves, but some teams repaint the fields together, and some repainters bring a child or a friend. A helper could shake the cans, so there's no interruption of the painting for that.
Let me know if you'd like a second machine for your team. I have a few extra machines, but not enough for each team to have two. Send me an email to ask and don't take without my permission.
Usually, the machine and paint supply is with the team member who's currently doing the repainting, but some teams keep their machine(s) and paint supply at the house of a team member who lives close to the field.
I do recommend you schedule in blocks, work consecutive weeks, so you can see how your lines look a week later, and (if necessary) adjust your technique; but of course, sometimes travel, work or other tasks don't allow that.
Because of the early dark and chance of rain, the last weeks of the season are the hardest, so (with the typical three volunteers to a field and an eleven-week season) a 4-4-3 schedule would be the fairest; but with frequent travellers that may not work out. (Thank you Dave Lesikar)

Typical Paint Use

location	# of fields	size (yards)	weekly paint use (location)	2-week supply high estimate (boxes of 6)	3-week supply high estimate (boxes of 6)
Fairmeadow School Palo Verde School Walter Hays School	2	30x20	5-7 cans	3 boxes	4 boxes
Hoover School Nixon School El Carmelo School	2	35x25	6-9 cans	4 boxes	5 boxes
Escondido School	2	45x30	8-11 cans	4 boxes	6 boxes
Hoover Park	4	45x30	16-22 cans	8 boxes	12 boxes
Duveneck School Ohlone School Robles Park	1	60x40	6-9 cans	4 boxes	5 boxes
Seale Park (Spring only)	1	80x50	8-12cans	4 boxes	6 boxes
JLS #4	1	100x70	15-18 cans	6 boxes	9 boxes
Terman	2	100x70	30 cans	5 boxes	8 boxes
Greer	2	100x70	30 cans	5 boxes	8 boxes
total use				61 boxes	93 boxes

Halfway through the season we can lower the amount of paint used. The ongoing painting will have discouraged the growth of the grass.
When resupplying, don't take more paint than for three weeks, or there may not be enough left for the last teams restocking that week, and it will be harder for me to keep track of stock. - But in the last weeks of the season it's OK to take an extra box, it would be such a waste of time and gas to pick up a few cans.
Please note on the clipboard how many cases you took for which field, so I can keep track of how much paint to order.

... and Then We Talked of The Rain

It doesn't make sense to paint when it is raining heavily, because the paint will wash away; but you can successfully paint a wet field if no rain is expected for the next hours. If there is no other way, you can even paint during a drizzle or mild rain, if it doesn't last too long. On dry grass the paint will dry more quickly, but painting lines on a wet field can and sometimes has to be done. In the initial weekends we often paint fields wet with dew.
Check the weather forecast often. If rain is expected for Friday, try to paint on Thursday; if much rain is expected Thursday and Friday, paint on Wednesday.
If you painted during rain, please go back to the field later to check on the lines, and if necessary lay down an extra layer of paint (not during games.)
In case that it rains continually Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you'll have to paint on Saturday or Sunday (after games, if they're not cancelled) so as not to lose the field layout. And repaint again on Thursday or Friday.
If it would rain without letup for two weeks I guess that the remainder of the season will be cancelled, because by then the fields would be in no condition for play.

Detailed Fields Diagrams

30x20 - 35x25 - 45x30 - 60x40 - 80x50 - 100x70

Specific Fields:

Multifield Sites: Escondido School - Hoover Park - Hoover School - Nixon School - Palo Verde School - Walter Hays School

[No Location Maps]: Fairmeadow School - El Carmelo School - Robles Park

Single Field Sites: Duveneck School - Ohlone School

Soccer Fields Dimensions Overview

Paint Use Calculations

Total Length of Lines on Fields (in yards);
30x20: 180 x2 = 360
35x25: 220 x2 = 440
45x30: 265 x2 = 530
265 x4 = 1060
60x40: 455
80x50: 580
100x70: 740
(10R circle: 63)
One can will paint 50-75 yards, 150-225 feet of the line.

Many thanks to my predecessor Doug Kreitz for his comments and continuing help with the fields.

Surveying (First Lining)

Marco Schuffelen homepage - email (non-urgent)

I made these pages as part of my volunteer job as Fields Administrator of my local AYSO (Youth Soccer) chapter. It wouldn't be wrong for frequent users of this page from other regions or elsewhere to show their appreciation for my effort by a donation. When you order anything at Amazon.com starting at the search box at right, I will get a small commission (at no extra cost to you.)
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