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SAPCA Briefing - SAPCA Awards

A playing surface described the “biggest breakthrough in hockey since 1976” was among the winners of the 2020 SAPCA Awards 2020

Published in Sports Management 2020 issue 3
The awards night was hosted by BBC presenter Mark Clemmit (right)
The awards night was hosted by BBC presenter Mark Clemmit (right)

A temporary playing surface, described as the “biggest breakthrough in hockey since the Montreal Olympic Games”, an innovative piece of testing equipment and an ambitious sports hub project have been declared as the tree winners of this year’s SAPCA Awards. The trio beat strong competition from an overall short list of 15 entries.

The SAPCA Innovation Award was given to Polytan Sports Surfaces for its Big Stadium Hockey solution. Big Stadium Hockey is a portable pitch technology, which has been designed to bring hockey back to existing, major venues. It can be installed, used and removed in a short space of time on a variety of sub-bases.

The surface was used to transform The Stoop in London – home of Harlequins RFC – into a hockey stadium, hosting England’s home matches against New Zealand.

“The SAPCA Award tops off the what has been an exciting and at times challenging process as we worked with colleagues from across industry pulling in a wide range of expertise to realise the original concept,” says Polytan MD David McCulley.

Meanwhile, Sports Labs won the SAPCA Award for Product of the Year for its Lightweight traction device. The device, which measures the rotational resistance of sports surfaces, is capable of providing results with a resolution ten times greater than that of a conventional device

The Project of the Year award was given to TGMS for its work to create an ambitious Sports Hub project at Berkhamsted School.

Now in their fifth year, the Awards are organised by the Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA) to celebrate achievements in the sports and play facility construction industry.

“With a record number of entries this year, and so many outstanding achievements, our judging panel certainly had a tough job,” said SAPCA CEO, Chris Trickey. “The three winners – and all of the finalists – exemplify the breadth of technical expertise and innovation across the industry.”

SAPCA AWARDS 2020
THE FINALISTS

Cleveland Land Services (Guisborough) Ltd
Natural turf and 3G pitch construction at the Welsh national football development centre, Colliers Park.

David Morley Architects
New Student Village Active Campus at the University of Loughborough.

J B Corrie & Co Ltd
Corrie Padel – a new design concept for padel tennis courts.

Mark Harrod Ltd
Devoshift – a new football goal design compliant with the new British Standard published in 2019.

McArdle Sport Tec Ltd
3G synthetic turf pitch, hybrid stitched natural turf pitches and fibresand pitches at Reading FC’s Bearwood Park.

Rosehill Sports and Play
An export success to Australia, where Rosehill’s products have been used to create playgrounds at hundreds of schools and childcare centres.

S&C Slatter Ltd / FieldTurf
A temporary baseball field constructed in 21 days for the MLB game at London Stadium.

SIS Pitches
A one-of-a-kind, multi-coloured synthetic turf pitch at Myatt’s Field Park in London

Smith Construction (Heckington) Ltd
A floodlit 3G stadia football turf pitch, two full-sized 3G football training pitches and three natural grass pitches at the Monks Brook Football Complex.

South Wales Sports Grounds Contractors Ltd
A 3G pitch and athletics track construction project, including a SUDS drainage system and live athlete tracking, at the Bryn Celynogg Comprehensive School.

TigerTurf (UK) Ltd / McArdle Sport Tec Ltd
Three synthetic turf football pitches and one World Rugby regulation 22-accredited rugby field at Washington Football Hub.

Tony Patterson Sportsgrounds Ltd
60,000sq m of elite-level synthetic and natural playing surfaces with 5,500sq m of new roads and car park, plus a bespoke pavilion building at the University of Limerick.

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