The Best Seats
In The House

As we progress into the spring and summer months, our scope of work transitions into one of the larger parts of our business; full-scale bleacher seating systems and grandstands. These structures are a beautiful sight at any football or sports field or stadium and look even better with throngs of fans cheering on the home team.

One of our first outdoor bleacher projects of the season was the design, manufacturing and installation of a large bleacher grandstand and stand-alone press box for St. Joseph Scollard Hall Secondary School, part of the Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board.

The school was looking to acquire seating to accommodate around 500 spectators with press box for use with upcoming athletic events to be held at the school.

When we were awarded the job, our design team quickly got to work designing and manufacturing what would be two 10-tier and 40’ long banks of elevated bleachers and one bank of 3-tier 16’ long non-elevated bleachers which would end up seating approximately 510 spectators.

Wall-mounted basketball systems, which includes backboards, rims and nets, is one of the most popular configurations of basketball goals we sell, service and install. With a variety of designs, these basketball goals are a favourite for indoor and outdoor facilities that often serve as multi-sport or multi-use locations, serving a number of different needs.

This is a department that certainly has evolved over the years as we have been faced with some interesting mounting challenges from many different customers. As no two facilities are exactly alike, we often turn to our in-house design team to creatively draft innovative configurations as needed.

Today we offer four main configurations which seem to cover most of the needs of our diverse clientele, but we are proud to customize any project when the need arises.

Here are our four basic configurations for wall-mounted basketball systems:

Our netting department is one of our most versatile product lines, with applications across a number of sports and general uses.

While we carry traditional sports netting such as hockey goal netting, soccer goal netting, volleyball netting and the like, we also provide our customers with completely customized barrier netting solutions. Our barrier netting solutions are also used in many sports applications, to reduce the risk of flying objects and protecting spectators and equipment.

Enclosing areas such as hockey rinks, tennis courts, golf driving ranges and fairways and baseball fields are a few of the most popular types of netting we design and install. This being said, there is never a one size fits all approach to netting as the barrier needs vary from sport to sport. To remedy this we carry three main varieties of netting, each designed to fulfill certain requirements for a particular application or sport.

Located just a couple miles north of Trenton, Ontario, lies the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, operating primarily as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force. Opened in 1931, CFB Trenton is now a major hub for tactical and strategic airlift aircraft and a major training institution. The base is home to the Canadian Forces Land Advanced Warfare Centre (CFLAWC), formerly known as the Canadian Parachute Centre (CPC) and the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre (CAAWC).

The CFLAWC is now known as the “Centre of Excellence”, embodying thirteen different parachuting courses, including aerial delivery, mountain operations, rappelling, patrol pathfinder and all parachute rigger qualifications.  

As with most businesses operating today, we live in an ever-changing space that moves quickly. Our product line which, originally was created to service athletic and sports-themed facilities and operations, has now evolved into so much more.

While athletics is still a very large part of our business, we are always seeking to enter additional markets and we continue to test our products across various applications to better serve our growing clientele.

With innovative designers  and the technology already in place within our organization, we can easily pivot and take on non-traditional padding projects and make our customers’ visions a reality. We have recently expanded our custom padding services to design, manufacture and install customized padding for veterinary facilities and other animal shelter-type facilities.

As with any equipment or technology, after any given number of years of repeated use it can either become worn out, out of date, obsolete or downright unsafe. Gym dividers and partitions that are out of date can quickly become an area of concern for facility managers and operators, and maintenance or replacement should be considered as your divider or partition gets older.

This was true of our latest project we completed for Holy Trinity High School in the Ottawa Catholic School Board. We were commissioned to remove and dispose of their existing folding partition and supply and install a new state-of-the-art gym divider curtain for the local high school.

Our team quickly and safely removed the old partition and began preparing the space for the new divider curtain to be installed. Once the removal was completed, we were to supply and install our highly-popular top roll gym divider curtain, with a touch of customization.

As we go about our everyday lives, we strive both as individuals and businesses to use and provide eco-friendly or ‘green’ products to make the planet we call home a better place.

Our newest product line aims to do just that, as well as offer a tough and durable product for a variety of facilities around the world. Our offerings of plastic benches that have just recently been made for sale are constructed entirely of recycled materials and are virtually indestructible.

These benches come in a variety of configurations, lengths and sizes and are primarily found in wet or damp areas like pool decks, change rooms and saunas, but can be used in outdoor settings as well. Their rugged design allows them to withstand any punishment damp conditions or Mother Nature can dish out.

Earlier this month a less-than-ordinary request came in to one of our sales people via our online chat. The prospective customer found Sport Systems online and was busy researching products they could use for an upcoming theatrical performance in Toronto, Ontario.

After some conversing, we learned that the customer was seeking something to aid them in creating a boxing ring area for their upcoming production. The initial thought was to use our custom padding or gym mats, until our sales team suggested the use of one of our Residential Rink Kits, typically used to enclose hockey rinks.

Over the past decade, there have been some much needed changes and updates applied to major legislation here in North America regarding accessibility for people with disabilities. These changes have paved the way for facilities to create environments that go well beyond simply retrofitting a physical location with wheelchair access.

These changes take into account those living with disabilities by allowing all participants and spectators equal access to our sports equipment and infrastructure, providing a safe and inclusive environment for all.

Ramps, Landings Stairs and Guard Rails

These are obvious areas of concentration when converting an existing bleacher system to meet current requirements or designing a new bleacher system. Ramps are designed to provide adequate space and access to those in wheelchairs or scooters and should be equipped with a slip-resistant coating and provide ample protection along edges.

Although our industry keeps us busy year round, this time of the year is an especially busy time.   After spending the better part of the past few months buried in snow, the spring thaw brings a renewed opportunity for facility managers and operators to assess their outdoor equipment and get ready for spring and summer sport seasons.

It is also the time of year we hit the road and take part in numerous industry tradeshows, expanding our knowledge, creating new connections and showcasing our talented team and stellar product offering.

In the immediate months, we will be attending two major tradeshows in Ontario:the 2015 Parks and Recreation Ontario Educational Forum and Trade Show and the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association’s Annual General Meeting.