What sports surfaces are currently on the market?

What sports surfaces are currently on the market?

Football

For dedicated football facilities the preferred choice from a range of synthetic surfaces would be – THIRD GENERATION sand & rubber filled artificial grass carpet. If you are seeking FA/FF funding for a full size pitch this type of surface would be mandatory unless you were considering a natural grass pitch.

Please visit the FA website for more detailed and current information on facilities which can be found at www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/Facilities and specifically for artificial pitches at www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/Facilities/Artificial_Pitches

Hockey

For dedicated hockey facilities the preferred choice from a range of synthetic surfaces would be

• Water-based unfilled hockey system as chosen for Olympic pitches (please see below)
• Sand dressed turf – ideal for school and college projects
• Sand filled turf – ideal for starter projects

Please visit the International Hockey Federation website to read their January 2009 report on The Future of Synthetic Turf giving the latest information on the search for a “water free” turf and other developments. This report can be found in the Pitches & Equipment section of their website at www.fihockey.org

Tennis

Surfaces currently available by ‘type’ are ACRYLIC/ARTIFICIAL GRASS/ASPHALT/CLAY/POLYMERIC and TEXTILE (carpet). Doe offers a full range so that customers may choose the most suitable option to meet their individual performance standard and budget requirements – please refer to our tennis downloads for full details of our Doe indoor and outdoor tennis surfaces.

Some general information about tennis facilities may be found under Tennis Resources in the clubs section of the Lawn Tennis Association web site at http://www.lta.org.uk

Multi-Use Facilities

The most popular surfaces currently available by ‘type’ are ARTIFICIAL GRASS/POLYMERIC and PERVIOUS ASPHALT (MACADAM). There are many options to consider, particularly within the ‘GRASS’ category which can be broadly broken down into

• THIRD GENERATION Sand/rubber filled
  
• SECOND GENERATION Sand dressed
  
• FIRST GENERATION Sand filled carpets

For Multi-Use facilities, the end use, followed by budget, normally dictates the choice of surface, surround fencing and lighting.

Because of the variety of options available you may find our MUGA surface selector PDF in our downloads section helpful.

If you would like to view detailed Codes of Practice & Construction Guidelines for various types of sports facility you may wish to visit SAPCA’s web site www.sapca.org.uk where this information can be found in the Technical Guidance section.

Please contact us for more detailed advice and information.