The Best Seats
In The House

Image: Cheap Snow Gear

As we ease into the month of October, the coming cold winter months are undoubtedly approaching faster than most of us would like.  Despite being treated with football seasons and October baseball, all of us in the athletic industry must be vigilant in preparing for the winter months, particularly in protecting and extending the life of any outdoor equipment.

While most of the products we market for outdoor use are more than capable of withstanding everything Jack Frost can throw at it, some preventative maintenance and small tweaks can certainly help certain pieces of equipment brave the elements.

Not far from our offices on the outskirts of town, this project brought us to one of Ottawa’s most well-respected post-secondary educational institutions; the University of Ottawa.  In addition to being situated in the very heart of Canada’s Capital, the University of Ottawa is also the world’s largest bilingual university, serving students in both English and French.

This project found our team on the campus of this historic university as they were in the process of upgrading the current basketball systems in the university’s athletic complex.  In total, the school was interested in upgrading four wall-mounted basketball systems, complete with a new design, which would allow the facility to move the nets out of the way for other events held in the gymnasium.

When it comes to versatility, our design and manufacturing team strives to innovate and create usable solutions for our customers on a daily basis.  With a growing need for a one-size-fits-all solution, many organizations and facilities are looking for new ways to utilize their current equipment or customize new purchases.

While our line of highway towable grandstand bleachers or transportable bleacher kits serve the purposes of a variety of facilities, we still felt there was a gap in the mobile bleacher space.  In evaluating our past and current customer’s orders, feedback and expressed needs, our team set out to revolutionize the industry once again.

Tractors and trucks are typically readily available to many of our customers and with a tow kit, they can easily move their bleachers when needed.  That being said, those operating with the use of forklifts were without a truly unique solution that could adequately suit the design and function of this machine.  

Anchoring the eastern border of the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe, lays Oshawa; a town deeply rooted in the automotive industry and nestled along the shores of Lake Ontario.  A town once recognized as Canada’s automotive hub, today is shaping itself as more of an education and health sciences hub, serving as the home of three post-secondary educational institutions as well as Lakeridge Health and Education Research Network; the largest, multi-specialty medical group practice in the country.

One of our more recent projects landed us in the city-operated Legends Centre, located just north of the city’s centre.  This facility serves as a central location for the city’s sports and leisure activities and is the hub of Oshawa’s activeOshawa programming.  The facility includes a 4-pad arena, a leisure pool complete with a lazy river and waterslide, a fitness centre, an indoor track, and an outdoor playground with accompanying splash pad.

Located just north of the city of Brampton, our latest project brought us to Caledon, a small town in the Greater Toronto Area.  The site of the project took place at the Mayfield Recreation Complex, nestled along the border between Brampton and Caledon.

This facility is home to a 180’ x 80’ ice hockey arena, a 25 metre, 6-lane pool and a community room that can accommodate up to 40 patrons.

Earlier in the summer, key stakeholders with the town of Caledon came to us to discuss the possibility of removing their existing retractable bleachers, which were described to be “at the end of life,” as well as replace them with a brand new system that would fit the existing space.

Sport Systems Ranks No. 491 on the 2016 PROFIT 500

– PROFIT and Canadian Business unveils 28^th annual list of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies –

Ottawa (September 15, 2016) Canadian Business and PROFIT today ranked Sport Systems Canada Inc. No. 491 on the 28^th annual PROFIT 500, the definitive ranking of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies. Published in the October issue of Canadian Business and at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT 500 ranks Canadian businesses by their five-year revenue growth.

Sport Systems made the 2016 PROFIT 500 list with five-year revenue growth of 69%.

“Companies become a part of the PROFIT 500 through innovative thinking, smart strategy and sheer grit,” says James Cowan, Editor-in-chief of PROFIT and Canadian Business. “These firms demonstrate what Canadian entrepreneurs can achieve, both at home and across the globe.”

Here we are a mere few days ahead of the kickoff of the Queen’s Gaels home opener football game slated for this Saturday, September 17, 2016 in Kingston, Ontario.  It feels like just yesterday that our crews began to break ground at this historic site at Queen’s University and what has been erected is nothing short of breathtaking.

The 8,000 seat stadium, which rose from the demolition over the past few months will arguably stand to be Canada’s premier collegiate athletic stadium, boasting an innovative top-loading bowl seating design.

With Labour Day weekend in our rear-view, we have now passed the unofficial end of summer.  While summer does not technically end for another couple of weeks, and as kids head back to school and we get on with our regular routines, now is a great time to plan ahead for the coming winter months.

Up here in Canada and in many places in the United States, winter sports such as hockey, ringette, figure skating, speed skating and skiing are popular pastimes as temperatures begin to drop.  With that in mind, many rink owners and operators are busy planning their busy season, ensuring their facility and equipment is ready to roll when the snow begins to fly.

Ecole Elementaire Publique Carrefour Jeunesse is situated in the community of Rockland, Ontario, east of the city of Ottawa.  A small, bilingual community bordered by the Ottawa River to the north and Larose Forest to the south, Rockland has transformed into a picturesque location offering visitors plenty of vibrant outdoor activities.

While this project initially kicked off in early 2016 with the demolition of the old grandstands and press box in the bitter cold of winter, we are now beginning to see what will be a new era of Queen’s Gaels football.

As we rolled into the summer months, the framework that will soon become one of the premier collegiate athletic venues in Canada began to take shape.  As the framework of what will soon house 8,000 avid fans was erected during the late spring, the past few months saw the stadium truly take shape.