Why is Cal Poly Men’s Soccer playing at a horse farm?

Cal Poly men’s soccer starts their season tomorrow with an exhibition against Fresno Pacific. That’s no big deal — they’ve played the Sunbirds to open the season before. What is different is that the game will be played in Paso Robles.

At a Horse Park. 

The Paso Robles Horse Park, according to its website, opened in 2015 as a venue for equestrian competitions. Its main field — presumably where the match will be played — is specially engineered for horses. It has synthetic material woven into the grass to provide a more firm base for horses to jump and land on. From the website:

“The Fairway Field measures 300 feet by 500 feet and it is not your ordinary grass field. A sophisticated drainage system sits under eight inches of a specially prepared base comprised of sand and screened native soil designed by a soils engineer. Within this, polypropylene fibers were cultivated into the top four inches of the base. These fibers open up and bind with the soil along with the roots of the grass to form a more resilient footing for the various jumping and athletic events.”

So, on the one hand, Cal Poly should be able to play on a much wider surface than they’re accustomed to at home (Did you know soccer fields are all different sizes? It’s true. The width of a field can literally DOUBLE, depending on where you play). This wider field should help as Cal Poly goes back east to play on fields much wider than the Spanos surface. 

Kaba Alkebulan and the Cal Poly men’s soccer team kick off their season on Wednesday night in Paso Robles. By Owen Main

Also, the field could be a little different than what they’re used to. We know the tougher turf is better for horses, but will it effect the playability of the surface itself? 

Later in the season (September 23rd), the Mustangs will play again at the Paso Robles Horse Park on a football home game day. That game, against Cal State Bakersfield, will not be an exhibition. I’ll need to check when the last time the Mustangs played a home soccer match that counted and that wasn’t at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. 

I’ll be at the game on Wednesday night in Paso Robles. It’s the last opportunity to see Steve Sampson’s team “at home” until September 10th, when they host Saint Mary’s. It’s hard to believe, but this is Sampson’s third season at the helm of the Cal Poly program. 

Game time: 5:00pm

Location: Paso Robles Horse Park