The University of Ottawa began tearing up its football field Tuesday to prepare for the installation of a new state-of-the-art turf that will be the first of its kind in Canada.

The soles from recycled running shoes are the main ingredient for the infill of the FieldTurf Revolution artificial grass, making the university's field the second to be resurfaced this way in North America.

Only the Georgia Dome, home to the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, uses the same technology. And that's an appealing selling point for the Ottawa Gee-Gees' head coach, Jean-Philippe Asselin.

"Maybe it's a little bit of the bragging rights," he said, laughing.

Field will have cooling effect

Engineer Serge Ouimette, with Declan, the company tearing up the old turf, said the new topfill could also improve soccer, rugby and football players' performances.

"We've got about a pinchful," he said, holding a sample. "They're black. Very tiny. The comparison would be a ground pepper. It's rubber. Bounces around. Very good for athletes."

The fibres in the running-shoe mix are also meant to have a cooling effect on the field, which is hoped to reduce injuries when players hit the ground. Traditional astroturf is often criticized for being too hot and can cause burns when sliding on the artificial grass, or dehydrate players by raising surrounding temperatures.

"Everything that's going to happen now on the field will not affect the players as much as an astroturf would," Asselin said.

'Spongy feeling'

Luc Gelineau, the university's director of sports services, compared the artificial grass fibres to "an old shag rug" that would be filled in with 100 per cent recycled materials, from silica sand to old tires and discarded athletics shoes.

"That gives it a spongy feeling going on the field, so it's very safe," Gelineau said. "With football, they're very concerned with all the abrasaviness. When you fall, there's much less of an impact for the athletes from the abrasvinessness of the fibres."

The new field will cost about a million dollars to install.

The Ottawa Gee-Gees and FieldTurf have so far collected about 200 pairs of old running shoes on and off campus for the field resurfacing project. It takes about 65,000 pairs to fill one field.

Replacement of the turf will take about nine weeks to complete, and there are plans to recycle the old artificial field.