Sports Labs was delighted to be recognised at SAPCA's 2020 Conference & Annual Dinner which was held on 24/02/2020.

The event, which hosted more than 190 guests at St. George’s Park, announced Sports Labs as one of three winners among 15 finalists.

Keith MacPherson, Associate Director, was honoured to accept the award on behalf of Sports Labs Ltd for its work on the Lightweight traction device.

Since its inception in 1975, the device used for measuring the rotational resistance of sports surfaces has remained largely unchanged in its rudimental design and operation. With a specified dropped mass of 46kg, the equipment weighs the same as an average 16-year old – requiring two technicians to manoeuver it between test locations. The device also requires partial disassembly for transit – and full disassembly into multiple cases, if flight travel is required to reach the testing site.

To overcome these issues, Sports Labs has developed a simple, but innovative lightweight and highly portable rotational resistance tester (LwRR), capable of providing results with a resolution ten times greater than that of a conventional device with comparable accuracy and precision.

The device requires no disassembly for flight transit and comes in at a total weight of under 10kg – more than 35kg lighter than the current device, making it safe for operation and lifting by a single technician. The overall outcome is a device that is highly accurate and will help to reduce overheads incurred through staffing and travel costs.

This is the 5th annual SAPCA Awards event which celebrates outstanding achievements in the sports and play facility industry.

The SAPCA Award for Innovation of the Year was awarded to Polytan Sports Surfaces (UK) Ltd for its Big Stadium Hockey solution and the SAPCA Award for Project of the Year was awarded  to TGMS Ltd for the Sports Hub project at Berkhamsted School.

The other finalists include:

Cleveland Land Services (Guisborough) Ltd - Natural turf and 3G pitch construction at the new 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 (with an irrigation system) at Reading Football Club’s training ground, Bearwood Park.

Rosehill Sports and Play - An export success to Australia, where Rosehill’s coloured TPV rubber granules 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.

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

You can learn more here:
https://sapca.org.uk/news/sapca-awards-2020-winners-announced/