The Best Seats
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Recognized as an International Centre of Excellence thanks to its fully accessible design and inclusive environment, the Abilities Centre truly is one of a kind.

Located in the Greater Toronto Area in beautiful Whitby, Ontario, the 125,000 square foot facility boasts sports, fitness, arts, and life skills programming for people of all ages and abilities.

In addition to a board room, games room, lounge, theatre, 200m indoor track, aerobics rooms and a universally accessible exercise area, the facility is home to three regulation-size basketball courts.

This is where our team was fortunate enough to lend a hand to this amazing facility. Given the variety of participants that frequent the basketball courts, the existing portable backstops were no longer deemed inclusive for all to enjoy. Those who enjoyed the sport from a wheelchair or suffered from other disabilities soon found these floor-mounted systems to be hazardous to their safety.

A part of the Ktunaxa Nation, ʔaq̓am is a member community based on the values of family, unity and cooperation. Taking pride in their heritage, language and culture, the community operates a number of programs and services including an elementary school, daycare, after school and summer school programming, community health and education services, economic development, lands and natural resource management and housing and administrative services.

Accounting for the largest population of all Ktunaxa Nation Bands, the ʔaq̓am community also occupies over 18,000 acres of land under management.Located in the Rocky Mountain Trench in the East Kooteney region of southeastern British Columbia, roughly ten minutes north of Cranbrook.

With the spring season officially underway, planners, managers and operators are preparing once again for additional outdoor play within their communities and organizations. As we shed the layers of heavy clothing and move into something more comfortable, soccer pitches, football fields and outdoor basketball courts are once again in season.

As such, many facility managers take this time of the year to evaluate, design and/or construct their outdoor play areas for these types of sports, including basketball.

As one of the most popular sports here in North America, basketball courts in communities and in school yards are among the most high-traffic and most heavily participated areas.

At Sport Systems, we got our start in the basketball industry. With our headquarters located in picturesque Almonte, Ontario, we share this hometown with the inventor of basketball Dr. James Naismith and as such, began designing basketball hoops over 40 years ago.

A project just over a year in the making, the fall of 2017 marked the final construction and opening of the Portage Lewis Fitness Centre in New Brunswick. As a part of Portage Atlantic, a non-profit organization specializing in drug addiction rehabilitation for Atlantic Canadian youth, construction of the facility was kicked off in January 2017.

As the project progressed through the summer months, our team was contacted to help design and install a number of basketball systems in the facility’s gymnasium.

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.

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.

Named after one of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation, George Brown College boasts three full educational campuses in the heart of downtown Toronto.  Serving a variety of programs covering arts, design, business, community services, early childhood education, and construction and engineering technologies, George Brown College is asserting itself as a leading educational institution in North America.

We were connected with key stakeholders at George Brown College in the summer of 2016 when they reached out to us with the interest of revamping their basketball systems and gymnasium facility at their St. James Campus. 

All told, there was a total of six basketball systems that were in need of replacement but the facility itself presented some unique logistical challenges, particularly when it came to moving large equipment in and out of the location.

With literally millions of gymnasiums, athletic complexes and other facilities here in North America, designing athletic equipment with a one-size-fits-all approach would be useless.  Ranging from facilities built 30 or more years ago to the high-tech and architecturally stunning facilities we are slowly becoming accustomed to today, no two gymnasiums are alike.

When it comes to basketball systems, in particular, much of the configuration and installation methods are heavily dependent on the space allotted, ceiling height and other architectural nuances.  With that in mind, a lot of facilities today opt for either a wall-mounted basketball system, a ceiling-suspended system, or both.

Image: Cheap Snow Gear

As we ease into the month of October, the coming cold winter months are undoubtedly approaching faster than most of us would like.  Despite being treated with football seasons and October baseball, all of us in the athletic industry must be vigilant in preparing for the winter months, particularly in protecting and extending the life of any outdoor equipment.

While most of the products we market for outdoor use are more than capable of withstanding everything Jack Frost can throw at it, some preventative maintenance and small tweaks can certainly help certain pieces of equipment brave the elements.