The Best Seats
In The House

Knowing exactly what your facility needs for gymnastics in particular can be somewhat of a challenge, especially for the inexperienced. With the large variety of madding and gym mats on the market today, choosing can sometimes seem like a daunting task.

It was a busy Wednesday night on July 9th when the Capital City Speedway hosted the Mould Family Memorial Race Night proudly sponsored by Sport Systems.  The night featured fast paced racing across 6 classes and a fantastic half time show in light of the fan appreciation focused evening.

After the fan appreciation half time event it was time for the 15 lap Mini Stock feature, with all eyes on Nolan Gould and the Sport Systems Mini Stock machine.  In the 2nd lap Gould had moved from 6^th position to the lead, but had some stiff competition in the field.  Unfortunately for Gould, points leader Jason Moss (car #12) was looking to play spoiler.  After restarts on laps 3, 4 and 8, Gould stayed up front as Moss played peek-a-boo in his rear view mirror.  With the white flag ready to drop Moss took the lead out of turn 4.  Moss then ran into lap traffic on the back straight and the veteran Gould managed to regain the lead. 

The facility was looking for netting solution for their driving range, and found Sport Systems to bring the greatest deal of knowledge and expertise to the table.  We got to work, and both designed and installed approximately 1300 linear feet of golf course netting. 

Given the sheer speed of short track speed skating events, it is no surprise that the risk for injury for participants in this sport can be high at times. In the province of Quebec alone, there had been over 280 injuries reported between 2009 and 2011 on short track speed skating rinks.

These findings have caused Speed Skating Canada to re-evaluate the safety guidelines with regards to speed skating protective padding as of late. In doing so, they have now established a minimum padding standard for both practice and competition speed skating events.

This spring we were approached by the Islamic Institute of Toronto, and tasked with making some great improvements to the gymnasium in their beautiful facility located in Scarborough.

The Islamic Institute of Toronto (IIT) was established back in 1996 and has grown into one of the premier Islamic Educational Institutions in Canada.  Today the educational center offers courses in Arabic Language, Islamic Jurisprudence, Ethics, Spirituality and much more in their Toronto location.  The institute now resides on an 8 acre piece of property and contains a school, bookstore, administrative offices and obviously, a gymnasium.

The good people at the IIT opted for six new ceiling suspended basketball systems for their gymnasium, and ended up going with the popular 3103 Forward Folding / Rear Braced System from us.  This system is a perfect fit as it is designed for areas allowing sufficient space behind the backboard for a rear brace and unobstructed room to the front to fold up. 

It’s been nine long years since CFL football fans in Ottawa have had anything football related to cheer about. This season marks the return of the CFL to Ottawa with their new expansion team; the Ottawa REDBLACKS, and the city is abuzz with excitement for their home opener on July 18, 2014.

The REDBLACKS new home will be the freshly designed and renovated TD Place located at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa, and along with a sharp new look, seating and concessions, Sport Systems was contacted to install players benches for the football club.

The bench chosen was our 18 foot length portable aluminum player’s bench, equipped with backrests for player comfort.

Whether you operate or are part of an indoor or outdoor athletic facility, the issue of useable space is often a topic of discussion. Today, we expect more from our sports fields and facilities optimizing both available space and cost effectiveness.

The majority of smaller bleachers are designed using the standard angle frame structure, ensuring a solid foundation for your spectator seating. While this design does not pose any problems whatsoever and is widely used across North America, more outdoor facilities are switching to the permanent I-Beam structure for use with their grandstand seating.

Long track speed skating, as its name suggests, is one of the fastest competition sports on the planet.  With highest recorded average skater speeds of upwards of 34 MPH (54 km/h) in Olympic competition, you can very well imagine that safety is a main concern of participants and organizers of speed skating events and facilities. 

As of recent, Speed Skating Canada has prepared a set of guidelines for establishing the minimum speed skating crash protection needed for both practice and competitive applications.  Although these published guidelines are thought to be the utmost in safety, the organization stresses that facilities ideally should not only meet these speed skating padding standards, but exceed them to further ensure skater safety.  

The idea seems simple enough, locating and acquiring a bench for use for coaching staff and players for a variety of sporting activities at your recreational field or facility. The fact of the matter is; there are many choices, including style, size, mounting preference and utility.

This article will quickly guide you through the variety of choices you have when selecting a players bench for your athletic program, field or facility.