The Best Seats
In The House

With so many options available today, it can be difficult to select the indoor volleyball system that is best suited for your facility. In today’s market, facility operators are focused on providing their users with a high-quality product, but that can also fit in strict budget restraints when applicable.

We have spent the past 35 years supplying and manufacturing the very best in athletic equipment and infrastructure with two main goals in mind: to provide our growing customer base with the very best quality products available and following up with the very best in customer experience.

This past June, our team got to work on a large, customized arena bleacher project with our partners at Omni Sport in Frog Lake, Alberta. This large project consisted of a clear-span beam-styled design that would allow the existing dressing rooms to be located beneath the bleachers upon completion.

The first phase of this project saw our team design a custom rise-and-run combination to accommodate the set mezzanine that was designed to be loaded from the top.  The aluminum decking was then installed to successfully complete the initial phase of this project.

As this grandstand was designed for use in an arena, the second phase of this project entailed a seating solution that would not only provide comfort to spectators, but that would also provide more warmth than the exposed aluminum decking would in a cold environment.

For most educational facilities, indoor volleyball is a staple sport played in gymnasiums, particularly as we shift into the winter season. For most facilities, setting up for volleyball practice and games can be relatively time-consuming and can often require a number of teachers or support staff to physically set up the nets.

While ceiling-suspended volleyball systems are available, for most facilities they may not be necessary or within their budget constraints. To alleviate some of the set-up time, we proudly carry and install a number of volleyball accessories that can be permanently placed within the gymnasium flooring and provide added stability during play.

Floor Sockets & Sleeves

These accessories make a world of difference when planning and setting up a volleyball system, especially in busy facilities where multiple sports are played. These sockets are installed right into the gymnasium floor and are compatible with both floating and non-floating synthetic gym flooring. Each socket is constructed of heavy-gauge steel for optimum stability and support and allow volleyball uprights to be removed efficiently and stored out of the way during other court activities. Sizing varies based on each facility’s unique needs, so inside diameters are available in 4’, 3.5” or 3” sizes and you can choose from 12”, 10” and 9” depths. Obviously, the deeper these sockets are placed within your flooring, the greater the stability and strength provided for your volleyball nets.

As time passes us by, the equipment in our facilities does not always necessarily need replacement. Obviously this statement is contingent on a number of factors such as how the equipment or machinery was maintained, its age, current condition, and operational soundness of the equipment in question.

These are some of the biggest reasons we employ and recommend regularly scheduled maintenance on equipment such as, basketball systems, bleachers and grandstands and also have our own in-house inspection program for athletic facilities. Our Orange Zone inspection program is the most thorough inspection for athletic facilities and covers all areas of the gymnasium and each piece of equipment utilized by that organization.

Our most recent project took us to a local high school which, much the same as a number of facilities today, had a set of older telescopic bleachers and was interested in giving them somewhat of a facelift. After assessing the equipment, our team and the facility operators came to the conclusion that the existing bleachers were in great shape, but could use one of the main benefits of today’s telescopic bleacher seating systems; electrical operation.

Most of us have accepted it; winter is officially on its way and before we know it, the snow will start flying. With professional hockey season now underway, along with thousands of other recreational leagues across North America, arena facility operators are evaluating the condition of their hockey nets.

While most might assume it best to upgrade existing hockey goals, nets and fenders before the hockey seasons begin, sometimes that just is not possible. With so many arenas hosting hockey leagues and other events all year round, it is getting harder and harder to find a facility that actually experiences a great deal of downtime on the ice.

Whether it is a psychological cue due to the changing weather, the fact is this time of year is when we typically see an increase in requests from our ice-loving hockey and arena facility operators. This is also a time when many new builds are finally completed before the frost and newly founded arenas are in search of officially sized and professional-quality hockey goals and nets.

Riding on the wish of a local young woman with developmental disabilities, Augusta Street Park in our hometown of Almonte, Ontario, received a much need facelift. Sarah Spinks’ request was a simple one: to play basketball with her friends at the local outdoor basketball court closely situated to her home.

Earlier this month her wish was not only granted but exceeded. NBA Canada and Bell Canada stepped up and provided funding in the form of a US$19,780 grant, through a program spearheaded by Jeff Mills and his community-focused organization, Mills Community Support. In addition to the grant mentioned above, local organizations, The Hub and the Almonte Civitan, pitched in approximately $9,000 collectively to make this local wish a reality.

As we all know, the safety of our participants, staff members and spectators is always priority number one with facility managers and operators. With so many moving parts, different pieces of equipment and a variety of users, there is a great deal of monitoring and maintenance that goes into the smooth operation of any athletic facility.

In addition to routine maintenance, there are a number of products on the market today that are designed and manufactured to add another level of safety to the already well-designed equipment found in most gymnasiums. Here are a few products we have handpicked as recommendations for your gymnasium moving forward:

Our most recent project brought us to the Township of Sables-Spanish Rivers, a quaint community nestled between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The township is situated in the foothills region of Lake Huron’s North Shore and was officially incorporated in 1998.

The site of the project landed us at the Massey & District Community Centre, which encompasses a standard-sized baseball diamond, a fully enclosed outdoor basketball court, a single arena ice rink pad with full canteen service, as well as a licensed hall with a full kitchen for special events and rentals.

The township called on us to aid them in updating the bleacher seating located inside the ice rink before the upcoming hockey season began. The existing arena bleachers were out of date and unfortunately no longer compliant with recent updates in the Ontario Building Code. After the details were received, our designers got to work designing the new bleachers to be installed at the community centre. Some customization was needed as the new bleacher structure had to be notched out around the columns of the pre-engineered building.

We all lead busy lives and at times, months, maybe even years seem to pass rather quickly. For facility managers, there are just so many moving parts to a gymnasium or other athletic facility that overtime, certain pieces of equipment might be overlooked.

It is no secret that the wall padding inside your gymnasium plays a very important role in the safety of those who use it. High speed sports such as basketball often have players bumping into wall surfaces as they pivot to get back in the game. These wall pads can also turn out to be quite versatile to many facility operators. When equipped with a removable wall padding product, individual slab mats are easily taken down for other uses such as gymnastics, wresting and other exercises.

But, at what point should you consider replacing your gym wall padding?

The answer to that question is not always apparent as there are many factors to be considered when evaluating the condition of your current padding:

Located in Belleville, Ontario, our most recent project landed us at Bayside Secondary School. As a member of the Hastings & Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB), Bayside prides itself on academic, artistic and athletic programming paired with a heavy involvement in their local community.

Bayside Secondary School resides on a 200-acre campus, the largest in North America, which includes a quarry, wooded trails, extensive athletic playing fields, as well as a picturesque shoreline on the Bay of Quinte. The school is also home to HPEDSB’s French Immersion program and also offers a number of other specialty programs including International Studies, Communications Technology and EcoBound.