If Robert Heggie ever has to hear the word “sand” again, it’ll be too soon.

BMO Field’s head groundskeeper indirectly became part of a subplot to Toronto FC’s MLS Cup final run last December, after striker Sebastian Giovinco left multiple home playoff games with leg cramps. It was an issue the star said hadn’t bothered him in years. Following the Reds’ loss to the Seattle Sounders in the championship game, decided on penalties while Giovinco watched from the sidelines, Giovinco suggested sandy field conditions played a role in his physical problems.

The sand was a component of a three-day field conversion — from a football field for Grey Cup Sunday to a soccer pitch for Toronto’s home leg of the Eastern Conference final the following Wednesday. Green sand masked some paint and field damage from the quick turnaround, Heggie said, helping to smooth out the surface for the soccer game.

Heggie doesn’t expect to need additional top dressing this year. Compared to last season, the gap between hosting the CFL’s East final — with the Argonauts beating the Roughriders on Nov. 19 — and the second leg of Toronto FC’s Eastern final showdown with the Columbus Crew this coming Wednesday is a luxury.

“The field being in better shape itself — the plant structure and the roots and all that — holds the sand where the sand should be, but we did reduce our top dressing practices, which is putting sand down,” Heggie said. “(Toronto FC’s) response is they’d rather it a little lumpy, basically, compared to too much sand.”

By lumps, Heggie means slightly worn patches, common on natural grass fields in the professional game around the world, especially in 18-yard boxes. He remains in contact with TFC president Bill Manning, general manager Tim Bezbatchenko and captain Michael Bradley about the field, regularly taking walks around the pitch with each ahead home games.

They don’t expect middle-of-July grass in the middle of November, Heggie said.

“My crew do the best they can given the calendar and the weather that they don’t control,” said Heggie, whose job only gets harder the later the Reds play. “Michael understands that and the players understand that. We’re not wizards, but we do our best.”

With last year’s playoff run under his belt, though, Heggie is more confident than ever.

It helps that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, TFC’s parent company, provided the crew with additional equipment this fall. The Reds’ home schedule beginning in March instead of May as it had in 2016, thanks to construction on the stadium, also spreads out the wear and tear. And the absence of a play-in game — the Reds earned a bye through the first playoff round by finishing top of the conference — limited damage.

“We get days off this year,” said Heggie, who feels like he has been growing grass for 24 months straight. “A lot of my guys are returning employees so they’ve gone through the battle. The new tarp we have, the equipment we have is better than the old equipment. It’s less hands on, it works better.”

Heggie knows how important field quality is as Toronto vies for a second MLS Cup final in as many years.

“Tim (Bezbatchenko) always says, ‘The team’s the most important and behind the team is field conditions.’ It’s vital, especially when you have the quality of team that we have and they have that fast finesse game. They need the field dialed in.”

As soon as players lose faith in the field, they start overthinking every move, Heggie said, likening the phenomenon to horse racing.

“On the track, if the horses lose confidence in the surface, they won’t turn as fast,” he said. “They’ll just slow down because they go, ‘Hey, I’m not going to hurt myself and I don’t trust the track.’ That’s exactly what it is on natural grass; if the player doesn’t trust the surface then he’s going to, whether he knows it or not, adjust his game for that surface.”

While he thinks Major League Soccer might have hopes for a snow game — “I can’t understand why they’d want to play until December. It could go terribly wrong for a lot of places” — Heggie believes BMO Field’s grass over the last two years has proven it’s possible for teams to share a home field.

“There’s always potential to be a disaster no matter what sport it is, but I think MLSE’s proving it’s possible to do this.”

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As for Giovinco, the striker told reporters on Wednesday that he is feeling better physically in these playoffs than he did last year.

“I feel good but we win (with) 20 players, we lose (with) 20 players,” he said. “If you don’t feel good there is another player that can come in and help us for a win.”

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