Field of dreams: The turf that will be B.C. Place's verdant, green World Cup centrepiece

Bert and Nicoline Bos inspect the grass being grown for the World Cup at B.C. Place. The design of the hybrid turf allows for a resilient, divot-resistant base, and a consistent and predictable playing surface. Photo by JJ Adams /PNG

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The job of producing a new grass surface at B.C. Place, which will be shown globally on hundreds of millions of screens during the World Cup, rests with an Abbotsford farm nestled at the base of Vedder Mountain in the Fraser Valley lowlands.

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Bert Bos started Bos Sod Farm in 1993, a few years after moving to B.C. from Alberta, where his family has two other sod farms. He’s done big projects in the past, including a golf course in Whistler and Idaho’s Boise State University’s practice field, but this will be their highest-profile job.

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And he didn’t want to do it at first.

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“I was a little lax,” he said, laughing.

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When Bos Sod found themselves on the shortlist for suppliers for B.C. Place — they were surprised as they hadn’t applied to do it — Bos was initially hesitant because of past lessons.

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Drainage was a huge factor. Could they even grow it in the Valley, where their farm was under 1 1/2 metres of water in 2021, rendering their home and work buildings uninhabitable for months?

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In the end, it was Bos’s children — Nicoline, Jaron and Caleb, who all work on the farm — who pushed him to seriously consider it. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed doable. The hybrid product FIFA planned to use in the North American stadiums would allow for flexibility, and Bos could tailor it to the facility and climate.

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Bert Bos and his children, from left, Nicoline, Caleb and Jaron on the grass being grown for the World Cup games at B.C. Place. JJ Adams photo Photo by JJ Adams photo

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FIFA had a chance to experiment with the science when they hosted the Club World Cup — the marquee tournament for pro soccer clubs, not national teams — last year in the U.S.

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Lessons were learned: Bermuda grass was out, Kentucky Bluegrass was in. There were myriad complaints from many of the same players who will lace up their boots for their countries this summer, likening the grass to a putting green instead of a soccer pitch.

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The hybrid system works with a mesh grid with artificial grass fibres that stick up, forming about five per cent of the grass. It’s stitched together in long rows by an oversized sewing machine. It’s laid overtop of a laser-graded layer of sand and peat, seeded with a mix of 84 per cent Kentucky Bluegrass and 16 per cent perennial ryegrass.

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Bert Bos had the latitude to determine the grass-seed ratio, the sand-peat ratio, and to tap Butler Concrete and Aggregate in Duncan as the sand supplier — keeping business in B.C. and avoiding potential tariffs.

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When the grasses’ roots grow down through the artificial grid and hit the perforated plastic underlay, they begin spreading horizontally, creating a tight, robust root system that will be resistant to cleat divots and tearing.

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The fields were planted in June, and have just reached 22 millimetres in height, the same as the artificial fibres. They will be trimmed back before the install at B.C. Place.

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“I’m very glad they went with the carpet system for Vancouver; I think it’s really bulletproof. It’s going to be pretty tough to beat this,” he said. “One big thing with sod is … what you see now is a result of what took place six months prior. You cannot change on a dime. If you’re in the wrong, it’s hard to correct the last minute. With this kind of exposure and stuff, the stakes are pretty high. So here’s quite a lot of pressure to make sure you get everything on, everything correct … It’s huge pressure.