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The 2015 Pan Am Games kicked off last week with great success on July 10, 2015. Three days into this fierce international competition, the host country, Canada is atop the medal count, closely followed by our neighbours to the south, the United States of America.

Having only been played on Canadian soil twice before, the return of the Pan Am Games offers sports fans a great glimpse into international sporting competition as the Games play host to 41 member nations competing in over 36 Pan Am sports.

In the fall of 2014 we began to install barrier netting at multiple sites on campus at the University of Toronto for test events leading up to the kickoff of the games this summer. Our team recently returned to Toronto, adding netting barriers to the grass playing fields at the University.

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.

We were recently commission by the Boys & Girls Club of Kingston and Area to successfully renovate a new facility they recently acquired. What was once a workout facility is now home to the Boys & Girls Club, a facility that aims to provide a safe, supportive place where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships and develop confidence and skills for life. 

Converting the existing facility to a new Boys & Girls Club obviously came with a variety of alterations and required a number of products to properly separate the space into the needed areas to support the ongoing user groups and events often held at Boys & Girls Clubs.

When the games come to Toronto next summer, it will mark only the third time this event has been held on Canadian soil, with Winnipeg, Manitoba being the only other host city in the country. Both the Pan Am & Parapan Games are held every four years, always preceding the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.

With the start of the 2015 games approaching in less than a year, the organizing committee, project managers and volunteers are busy preparing sites in and around the Greater Toronto Area, anxiously awaiting the start of the games, set to kickoff on July 10^th, 2015.

As part of the development of multiple sites across Toronto, Sport Systems’ expertise was called upon to design, build and install a custom, retractable barrier netting solution to serve as a barrier around the perimeter of the Field Hockey venue located on the campus of the University of Toronto.

This spring, the Town of Collingwood, Ontario was looking to partner with a company that could provide them with a netting barrier to keep spectators and park users safe from stray baseballs. The project was much more than netting in itself, and required a firm that could supply the netting, design and installation ideally prior to the start of the 2014 baseball season.

The Town of Collingwood ultimately turned to Sport Systems, given their experience and track record with installing complex barrier netting projects for both sporting and commercial applications.

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. 

Outdoor sports are back, and it’s almost time to take to the fields for tryouts and training. It’s been so long since we’ve enjoyed grass-stained uniforms and oddly-shaped tan lines, but it’s just about that time again! With the promise of warmer weather, players and field crews alike are busy preparing for 2014 spring sports season.

While athletes are working on ball skills and conditioning, sports facility managers are taking care to prepare the turf for the first day of practice. There is much to be done to ready the grounds, from field maintenance to equipment setup. Aside from freshly painted lines on the field and sturdy goals and uprights, no field is complete without backstop netting.

Soccer Barriers

When it comes to soccer games, every second counts. After every goal, during every substitution, while setting up for free-kicks and throw-ins, you can bet that clock will be running. Cut back on stoppage time with netting barriers specially made for keeping the soccer ball on the pitch. Measuring in at 20’ high and 65’ long, the dimensions are perfect for catching those high and wide shots before they stray into the next field over.

Sport Systems provides essential services and products for a wide range of sports venues and athletes. From the moment your order is placed until it is delivered, (even returning for annual inspections and check-ups), Sport Systems is proud to serve the facilities that make people happy by keeping them active. But our mission doesn’t stop there; our goal is to serve the community as a whole, including those in the stands as well as on the field.

While it is readily apparent how our sports equipment systems serve athletes of all sorts, from peewee to pro, it might be easier to forget how much their biggest fans appreciate having Sport Systems behind the scenes of their favorite sporting event.

When spectators roll up to to see their favorite team play, they are relieved to find a secure, galvanized steel rack to secure their bike outside the facility. With a wide variety of design options and an array of customizable features, bike racks from Sport Systems satisfy the need for form and function.

The best part about seeing a live sporting event is feeling like you are a part of the action, in the middle of every play.  While being in the trajectory of a puck or a pop fly can be thrilling, sustaining an injury as a spectator is not.  Millions of people attend live sporting events each year, eager to be close to the action - and the danger.

In the NHL, stray hockey pucks injure spectators at a rate of nearly one per game, with some fans requiring urgent medical attention.  At baseball games, catching a foul ball is an opportunity for a free souvenir and a few glorious seconds on the Jumbotron.  But when uncaught, these projectile baseballs can cause serious injury as well.

While there is a certain assumed risk and responsibility for sports fans sitting by the field, rink, or court, liability to the venue is always a concern.  Watch out for your fans as well as yourself by installing safety netting in your sports facility from Sport Systems.