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Sports surfaces

Standards Australia produces two documents to assist in determining what surface is applicable to a particular sport. These documents are Handbook ─ Sporting Facilities Manual Part 2: Sporting Surfaces SAA HB49.2 ─ 1993 and Synthetic Sporting Surfaces Part 1 General Principles AS 3541.1 ─ 1988.

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The information in this guide is general in nature and cannot be relied upon as professional advice concerning the design of, or marking out for, sporting facilities and playing areas. No assurance is given as to the accuracy of any information contained in this guide and readers should not rely on its accuracy. Readers should obtain their own independent and professional advice in relation to their proposed sporting activity.

The following basic information regarding usage must be considered prior to appointing consultants or initiating any development of a playing surface:

  • identify the sports and level of usage of the facility;
  • will floodlighting be required if outdoors?
  • is there a requirement for a phased development?
  • will there be any non-sport usage, i.e. temporary car parking (outdoors) or functions (indoors)?
  • what long-term resources will be available to maintain the playing surface?
  • are funds available to pay for the project and ongoing maintenance including replacement at the end of its life?

Outdoor sports surfaces

  • Natural sporting surface — natural turf, loose particulate mineral layers and ice or snow
  • Polymeric sporting surface — manufactured from materials such as plastics, rubber or textiles. This is suitable for netball, tennis, basketball and training areas for athletics
  • Open textured porous macadam surface — formed by a layer or layers of processed and formed materials which produce an integrated, continuous sporting surface i.e. concrete and bitumen. These surfaces are suitable for ball rebound sports such as tennis, netball and basketball
  • Synthetic turf — surfaces that consist of a synthetic yarn supported by a filling material (i.e. sand, rubber crumb etc.). Types of synthetic turf pitches include sand-dressed, sand-filled or unfilled (commonly referred to as water-based). Sand-filled and sand-dressed surfaces are suitable for football and soccer and water-based surfaces are suitable for hockey. These pitches form the majority of the elite level field hockey pitches in use today.

Indoor sports surfaces

The choice of an appropriate sports floor surface for an indoor facility is crucial to its success, its popularity with users and the extent to which it complies with the rules of various sports. Indoor sports floors must safely withstand the loadings from users and equipment. Common considerations when determining a suitable sports flooring are:

  • shock absorption;
  • energy return;
  • slipperiness;
  • ball rebound;
  • wear resistance;
  • regeneration;
  • load bearing implications (e.g. for temporary spectator seating);
  • non-sporting use.

Other priority factors that must also be considered when deciding on flooring are:

  • risk of physical injury.
  • stable environmental conditions.
  • internal visual environment.
  • other safety and ecological issues such as being hygienic, easy to clean and minimal off-gassing of volatile organic compounds.

Types of indoor sport surface are:

  • timber ─ 'floating floors'.
  • sheet floors ─ vinyl, linoleum, rubber, composites.
  • polymeric ─ materials can be mixed on site and form a continuous playing surface without joints.
  • textile ─ heavy woven fabric, felt, flock, velours, carpet.

Ideally, all sports would have the surface individually specified but economic considerations dictate that in many installations a number of sports have to be played on the same surface. This will require a compromise which the purchaser will have to consider prior to deciding what surface to install.

Note: The level of competition must be considered, as some sporting bodies set their own requirements for sporting surfaces. Further reference should be made to the manufacturer and State and national sporting associations for additional information.

 
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