The Best Seats
In The House

From daily physical education and sports practices to assemblies, graduations, concerts, and community events, school gymnasiums serve a variety of purposes. When it comes to effectively utilizing these types of multi-use spaces, the right bleacher seating system can often make all the difference.

When it comes to indoor seating options, telescopic bleachers (also known as retractable or folding bleachers) are the most popular choice for schools. These systems slide out for events and retract compactly against the wall when extra floor space is needed, making them far more practical than fixed seating or portable benches for busy school environments.

Working just down the road from our beautiful headquarters, we got the opportunity to take part in the development of a brand new educational facility. While we are not involved with the heavy-duty construction elements of a job like this, we were invited to participate in outfitting the gymnasium space with some brand new and state-of-the-art equipment.

After selecting a fairly comprehensive sports equipment package, our team was on-site and planning for this new gymnasium as part of the expansion of the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) here in the Ottawa area.

Aside from rising temperatures, sprouting flowers and green grass, another sure sign of Spring in Canadian communities, at least in our world, is freshly installed outdoor bleachers.

With the spring season officially in full swing, we’ve just completed another successful municipal project, this time for the Township of South Frontenac. This year, we supplied and installed our popular Gold Series bleachers at Point Municipal Park in beautiful Sydenham, Ontario.

Each of these Gold Series bleachers safely seats 50 spectators, providing comfortable, durable seating that will serve the community for years to come.

If you know our company history, you know we started our journey here in the town that raised James Naismith, with the sport of basketball. Since then, we’ve evolved into a wide array of sports equipment and infrastructure, but still take pride in transforming recreational spaces across the country—one hoop at a time. Whether it's a massive arena or a local community gym, we proudly upgrade them all. With that in mind, we're thrilled to share the successful completion of a recent basketball system upgrade for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Centre in Maple, Ontario.

As part of continuing to Build a Better Game for all of our clients, partners and customers, keeping an eye on growing industry trends is something that is second nature to our team. One such trend we’ve most certainly been noticing lately is that architects and designers are turning to our sales and design team early for custom arena bleacher projects. Whether it’s a full new build or an upgrade to an existing facility, the goal seems to be the same in most cases: deliver seating that meets today’s strict building code requirements while providing accessible, comfortable, and high-capacity viewing experiences.

The truth is, every arena project brings its own set of unique challenges and early collaboration sets the stage for the proper customization to fit the existing space, all while ensuring code-compliant egress and accessibility, which includes barrier-free seating.

Guest Blog Post Authored By: Advanced Padding Systems

We pride ourselves on being tapped to help solve complex architectural puzzles and our recent project at the University of Michigan Health’s Ypsilanti Health Center is a perfect example of what happens when innovative design meets professional installation.

When Michigan Medicine reached out, they needed more than just a regular old “padded room.” They were seeking a partner that could help them design a much needed safe and inviting sanctuary for their pediatric patients that was to become a calming room designed to provide comfort during difficult moments.

If you find yourself wrestling with outdated, manually operated basketball systems and your staff is finding it increasingly difficult, or unsafe, to set up for game day, we’re here to tell you that you aren't alone.

One of our more recent projects with the City of Ottawa was an excellent example of this after stakeholders from the city reached out to our team with the goal of replacing the aging, manual wall-mount basketball units at the Routhier Community Center with modern, motorized folding systems. To top it all off, they also were looking at upgrading the existing backboards to professional and ultra-durable glass backboards.

At Sport Systems Canada, we’ve been proud to collaborate with our trusted dealers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for nearly a decade now and the team at Interior Visions continues to impress us with their dedication and expertise to every project we collaborate on.

When Truro Middle School in Nova Scotia needed to replace an aging, non-operational gym divider curtain, our partners at Interior Visions responded immediately. They recognized the importance of restoring full functionality to a space that supports active learning and athletics for hundreds of students every day and quickly brought in our team to come up with a solution.

We all have a soft spot for those classic older arenas where generations have laced up their skates, cheered from creaky wooden bleachers, and created memories that undoubtedly last a lifetime. Some call them “old barns,” and with good reason as they often carry the soul of community hockey, with their character, history, and unmistakable atmosphere.

Fortunately for us, one of our more recent projects brought us to one such venue. Located in Port Hope, Ontario, Trinity College School (TCS) was founded in 1865, and now operates as one of Canada’s oldest and most respected independent co-educational day and boarding schools. Situated on a picturesque 100-acre campus just one hour east of Toronto, the school serves approximately 600 students from Grades 5–12, including a vibrant boarding community. With a strong emphasis on athletics, character development, and lifelong learning, TCS has a proud hockey tradition dating back over a century. Its on-campus Peter Campbell Memorial Rink has been a flagship facility since 1951, serving as home ice for generations of TCS Bears.

Guest Blog Post Authored By: Advanced Padding Systems

As you can very likely imagine, we receive all kinds of inquiries, covering everything from quick pricing questions on small padding projects to detailed RFPs for large institutions. But no matter the size, one request that stands out more than most is for our fire-rated safe room padding. Our Fire-Rated Wall Padding (PV-89) has become the go-to solution for architects, spec writers, and facility managers designing custom de-escalation rooms, calming spaces, and seclusion rooms in healthcare, education, and care facilities.