The Best Seats
In The House

With so many options and a variety of suppliers on the market today, we have compiled the following points of consideration for your next purchase.

Foam

Obviously a vital part to your wall padding, foam comes in a variety of options, most of which are pretty good. What you will want to make sure of is the ability of the padding to absorb shock from an impact. There are two units of measurement to help you identify this, foam density and indentation force deflection (IFD) (or indentation load deflection). Foam density is more of an indicator of the durability of the foam and has little bearing on the ability of the padding to absorb shock. While ILD is a measure of force required to compress a 4” thick piece of foam to a pre-determined percentage of its original thickness. Higher ILD rating is equal to more shock absorption.

Time marches on, and as we all lead busy lives, we sometimes can accidentally overlook routine maintenance of equipment found in our athletic facilities and sports fields. We have compiled a quick 6-point checklist you can use to constantly assess the condition of your bleachers to ensure they are always in tip top shape for the big game.

Have a good look at everything

This one is easy and quite obvious; get out and do a quick walk around your bleachers or grandstand seating. Be sure to carefully inspect the stairs and ramps, making sure they are clear of debris and are in good working condition. If you notice anything else along your walk through, make sure you carry a notebook and make notes of anything that might affect the smooth operation of your bleachers.

Together with the aid of a large network of sports equipment dealers, Performance Sport Systems has developed an unmatched maintenance and service program for athletic facilities across North America. By being involved in this program, Sport Systems’ technicians and installers have gone through rigorous training and are experts in the evaluation of your equipment and facility.

Sightlines

In this business, the fans are always right and providing them with the best viewing experience is on top of the list.  Maintaining consistent sightlines can be a complex task, but we make it our mission to ensure spectator satisfaction with all bleacher systems sold and serviced by our team. 

Choosing the proper bleacher system for your athletic facility is never an easy task, as there are a variety of variable that can come in to play during the selection period. When choosing outdoor bleachers, the choice can be narrowed down quite a bit based on type of system and number of seats needed.

Indoor seating systems can be another breed. There too exists a varied selection depending on the specific needs of your athletic facility.

A main point of interest for most looking at indoor bleacher seating options is versatility. This is a strong point for the telescopic bleacher system (also known as retractable or reverse fold bleachers).

Telescopic bleachers give your facility an extra level of versatility and can be an instrumental in maximizing the allotted space in your particular facility. Today, facility managers are always looking for innovative solutions to the specific needs of their facility with regards to allocated space for sports, participants and spectators.

This past March, the Texas Motor Speedway unveiled the largest HD sports screen in the world. Aptly nicknamed the “Big Hoss TV”, measures at 218 feet in length and comes in at about 95 feet in height. The HD screen is located at about 125 feet above ground level, sitting over the middle of the backstretch of the 1.5 mile track in Fort Worth, Texas.

This is yet another monstrous screen located in the Lone Star State, rivalling most other sports venue screens around the world.

A few months prior to the unveiling of the “Big Hoss TV” in Fort Worth, the folks down at the now SEC college, Texas A&M are in the middle of a $450 million renovation, with their goal of making Kyle Field and College Station, Texas the premier destination in college football.

After completing the purchase of a bike rack system for your facility or municipality, you will need to obviously decide the best way in which you would like the system mounted. There are a few options available to you, based on the product chosen.

Each of the following mounting configurations satisfies a specific requirement for your bicycle rack:

Portable

This option is clearly the most obvious choice when looking for a versatile solution when you might be interested in moving your bike rack from one location to another. This non-permanent solution simply allows the rack to rest on the ground independently and does not require any anchoring.

Before the bleachers fill up this fall, follow these tips to ensure your educational athletic facilities are in tip top shape with these easy summer maintenance procedures.

Annual Inspections

This one is a given, in addition to your facilities routine inspections and maintenance, it is always a good idea to hire an outside infrastructure company to professionally inspect your athletic equipment and structures at least once per year.

Growing in popularity, especially for outdoor enthusiasts living in winter climates, indoor rock climbing or bouldering facilities are a great place to hone your current skills, or get involved in a new activity.

As with many indoor recreational facilities, safety is always on top of mind when designing and performing regular maintenance in your indoor climbing location. One area of great care and concentration should be that of the crash pads and mats placed below rock climbing walls.

With the average height of an indoor rock climbing wall being anywhere from 20’-45’, in the event of a fall by either yourself or one of your patrons, you want to be sure the right crash pad is there to break the fall.

The unfortunate part about human nature is we often fail to see something until it is too late. When everything in your gym or athletic facility moves along smoothly from day to day, it’s easy for us to simply trust that it will stay that way.

The reality is, when something does happen to go wrong in your gymnasium, it often goes very wrong, very quickly.

Eyes To The Sky & Ears On The Ground

Although annual inspections by an external profession are always recommended, completing regular in-house inspections should be done on a regular basis by facility employees.

It begins with informing your staff members of particular areas of interest and items that deserve constant attention and monitoring.

The first step usually being: look up.

A quick visual reference of wall mounted and ceiling mounted basketball systems above eye level are a great starting point. Some other areas that deserve attention are gym divider curtains, batting cages or any gym mats that might be stored in the ceiling high above the playing and spectator surfaces. Looking closely, you can usually identify any items that might eventually fall onto the gym floor or bleachers, protecting everyone inside your gymnasium or facility.