By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
FAIRFIELD
, Conn – Anyone who has ever set foot on a modern-day synthetic grass playing field has come to realize two things:
One, the surface is one of the most comfortable athletic playing surfaces they have ever experienced. And two, the tiny rubber pellets that stick to their socks and accumulate in their shoes can be downright annoying.
There is, however, an apparent solution to the dilemma, a solution conceived and developed by two people who know the annoyance as well as anyone – two Fairfield high school coaches who have spent a lot of time working on turf.
The solution, know as the Turf Dawg, is a specifically-designed, polyester-coated shoe cover that all but eliminates the number of rubber pellets that gather in the athletic shoes of both coaches and players during practices and games on synthetic surfaces.
Simply explained, the Turf Dawg is slipped over a person’s foot and athletic shoe; laces are then run through grommet holes in the Turf Dawg. It is then zipped up and the shoe is tied normally.
The shoe’s laces, as well as Velcro strips attached to the Turf Dawg, hold the product in place. The zipper allows the Turf Dawg to be taken on and off with the shoe so that after its first use, it essentially becomes part of the shoe.
As a bonus, the Turf Dawg can be customized in any color or design so that a team or school can have Turf Dawgs with its own colors and/or mascot on the product.
The product’s inventors, Chris Parisi and Mike Mulvey, are both natives of Fairfield. Parisi coaches football and lacrosse at Fairfield-Ludlow High, in addition to teaching; Mulvey used to coach lacrosse and teach English at the old Fairfield High before moving to Jacksonville, Fla. He coaches lacrosse at the Bolles School.
“After every practice I would feel these rubber things in my shoe,” said Parisi, the Turf Dawg company CEO. “And I kept wondering why no one had invented a product to keep them out.”
With that thought in mind, Parisi set out to invent a product himself. After almost two years of design testing, the Turf Dawg is ready for practice and game action. Its first season, spring 2008, is nearly here.
Mulvey, the company’s CFO who recently earned his MBA from Regis University, likes to stress the Turf Dawg’s ease and functionality.
“Since the Turf Dawg is laced and tied into the shoe, the zipper keeps it snug when in use and allows a person to take the Turf Dawg and shoe off as one piece," Mulvey explained. "Furthermore, the Velcro strips create a natural friction which helps keep the Turf Dawg stationary while an athlete runs around.”
As both teachers and coaches, Parisi and Mulvey understand the need and benefits of a product such as Turf Dawg.
“The rubber pellets get all over the locker room and they end up in people’s houses,” Mulvey said.
Parisi added, “Turf Dawg improves everything from how an athlete feels while running around the field to what a locker room looks like after a practice or game.”
The ability of a school or team to customize Turf Dawg with their own design, colors, mascot or logo adds yet another attractive feature to the product. “It becomes another way of promoting your team or school,” he said.
Parisi and Mulvey plan to immediately market Turf Dawg to spring turf sports such as lacrosse, and then to fall sports such as football, soccer and field hockey.
“Both men and women’s sports at every level, from youth programs through professional, will benefit from the practical aspect of Turf Dawg keeping the inside of their cleats clean, as well as the visual impact,” said Parisi. “It creates a revolutionary new look.”
Turf Dawg’s inventors also see an application on the many playgrounds with their youth model.
“As parents, we’ve taken off our children’s shoes multiple times to empty the mulch, sand or whatever else was bothering them," Parisi added. "Wearing a Turf Dawg eliminates this nuisance for both the child and the parent.”
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Northeast Media Manager, as well as a columnist and photographer. He may be reached at (203) 563-2297 or at jstout@maxpreps.com
