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Held on a bi-annual basis since 1967, the Canada Games are celebrating their 50^th anniversary this summer as they kick off in Winnipeg next month.  The games, being held in tandem with Canada’s 150^th birthday, feature 16 sports spread across over 250 events during the 17-day event showcasing Canada’s top athletic talent.

The games are expected to draw over 20,000 visitors to Winnipeg, this year’s host city.  In addition to the anticipated visitors, Winnipeg will also play host to over 4,000 athletes and coaching staff members.

The events are scheduled to be held across 23 of the city’s athletic facilities and recreational areas.  One such facility and perhaps the most anticipated one is the Canada Games Sport For Life Centre, which is set to host the Games’ basketball and indoor volleyball events.  Located in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, this facility has been ten years in the making and was spearheaded by Sport Manitoba, the leading planning, programming, and funding agency for the development of amateur sport in Manitoba.

Look up, way up in most gymnasiums across North America and you are likely to find a ceiling-suspended basketball system strung across the rafters in any number of configurations. 

Designed to be easily removed when necessary, these ceiling-hung units make allowances for a lack of space or distance restraints from other traditional installation methods such as wall attachments. As with the other equipment located within the walls of any gymnasium, these products are designed to provide a safe playing environment for all to enjoy.

That said, our installation process is a diligent one, ensuring these systems are correctly installed, configured and operated.  While the installation process will vary across the different available configurations, the below guidelines are general in nature and provide an overview of the process.

With a deep-rooted history in helping young people who need it most, the Boys and Girls Club has been in operation since the late 1800’s. With the first location opening its doors in Hartford, Connecticut in 1860, the organization quickly sprouted across North America and is now staffed by over 58,000 young development professionals.

Working well within the founding mandate of the club, the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston has been providing a safe and supportive place for children and youth since the club officially opened in 1993. The club proudly serves the Kingston area providing camps, community events and the support and encouragement the organization has become known for.

On the surface, these large, custom-sized slabs of vinyl may seem easy to use.  Just lay it down and trample away on it, is the thought of many of the misinformed.  While our gym floor covers are certainly designed using the toughest vinyl available to protect your coveted gym flooring, they do require a certain level of care and proper use to guarantee adequate protection.

While simply rolling out your gym floor cover ahead of your next non-sporting event in haste is relatively unlikely to result in any major damage, it is the compounding effects these activities can have that ultimately make the difference. 

As such, we have compiled a couple of helpful tips you can use in your facility when storing, placing and removing your gym floor cover to add yet another level of lasting protection to your gymnasium floor.

As part of Canada’s upcoming 150^th birthday bash, the Ottawa 2017 committee has planned big events for the past few months and has much more to come in the next few months.. As Canada Day approaches on July 1 of this year, Ottawa 2017 planned 12 months of immersive and moving experiences to complement national celebrations and upcoming events and festivals.

Concentrated in the Nation’s Capital, Ottawa 2017 is cementing the city as the best place for Canadians of all ages to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of this great country’s confederation.

Rising from the landscape like the great coliseums of ancient Rome, many stadiums of today and of years past bear resemblance to these large structures designed to house as many spectators as possible with archaic seating configurations.

As the years have gone by, we have seen some of the most iconic stadiums and iconoclastic sports venues fall to the ground as newer, fancier, stronger and more spectator-oriented structures are erected in their place (or somewhere close by).  As more and more of these structures become obsolete, there is a growing trend in the stadium and seating industry that is transforming these structures into completely inclusive experiences for those who enter them. 

Supplying products and accessories for the world’s most popular sport tends to keep us fairly busy, particularly this time of the year when many organizations are gearing up for 2017’s soccer seasons here in Canada and in the United States.

As our sports equipment department continues to fill orders for accessories such as anchors, field flags, jerseys and more, our manufacturing and shipping departments are busy preparing, delivering and installing larger items such as goals.

Whether the gymnasium in your facility is old or new, it is guaranteed to have unique design nuances that can at times, make planning for new equipment challenging. When it comes to planning the replacement of existing basketball systems or the implementation of new ones, there are many factors that come into play.

In addition to space restrictions, facility managers must first identify the intended use of the basketball systems to be installed. Depending on the size of the gym, many facilities offer full-sized basketball courts, cross-court basketball systems or a combination of the two. When planning the design of new basketball systems, we first must identify how many will be required and where they will be placed.

After ten long years without a community sports complex, a Northwest Territories community finally has a new facility to call their own.  With the construction of the building completed in the fall of 2016, the new 50,000 square foot facility took nearly two years to build and now houses the community’s very own ice rink, gymnasium, youth centre, exercise room and office space.

Working with a nearly $15 million budget, the small Tlicho community of Behchoko is home to roughly 2,000 residents who until recently, shared the facilities of two local schools for athletic use.

With soccer seasons kicking off across North America over the next couple of months, many organizations, schools, and other facilities are putting the finishing touches on their athletic surfaces and indoor and outdoor fields.

As some might be still assessing the damage from this past winter, we are taking plenty of orders for new portable or permanent soccer goals across the United States and Canada. 

As these orders continue to pile in, with them come many requests and questions regarding the installation of said soccer goals.  While the portable units require a relatively simple assembly process, our permanent goals are slightly more involved, requiring a bit more prep before they are ready for use.

With that in mind, we have created the video below for you to view as well as accompanying step-by-step instructions as detailed below for your reference.