Being a world leader in any discipline isn’t easy, particularly in sport. Providing the safest and best modular sport courts so that sports can be played on surfaces that are both physically appealing and safe is a huge challenge.
Connor Sport Court, owned by international flooring and interiors specialist Gerflor is the market leader in sports surfacing and has built systems for many elite associations including the NBA, NCAA, FIBA, USATF and USA Volleyball, together with supplying the recent 2016 Rio Olympic Games with their basketball courts.
Connor Sport Court specialise in both wood and synthetic surfaces and have appropriate solutions for every type of athletic venue, park or multi-use facility.They provide products that are ideal for a myriad of sport uses in education colleges and universities, schools, sports and leisure centres, the military, sporting arena PowerGame® a’s, together with dance floor studios and fitness venues.
The safest outdoor court in the world PowerGame® from Connor Sport Court features the lowest skin abrasion of any outdoor court surface and is made of the highest quality materials and UV stabilisers to protect the specifiers investment and is a perfect fit for a host of performance sports including; badminton, tennis, basketball, netball and hockey. The patented Double-Tier shock absorbing grid and Lateral Forgiveness™ reduces joint strain and fatigue to help participants play longer and more safely than ever. Available in 22 stunning colour choices the performance of PowerGame® is also designed to deliver excellent ball bounce, a huge factor in both on-court response and enjoyment. After all, who wants to play a dull game?
Just before the tennis championships played at The All England Club, Wimbledon in 2016 the mother of global tennis star Sir Andy Murray decided that she wanted to actively do something about tennis at the grass roots level in Scotland – ‘Tennis on the Road’ was ‘born’. This programme enabled Judy Murray to bring tennis to a whole new generation of kids. The programme would need the very best playing surface for the coaches and children to play on. Their choice was PowerGame® from Sport Court®.
In a testament to improving kids’ lives Connor and Gerflor as companies are constantly looking for opportunities to create a better world. In the sports division, it manifests itself in creating safer places for children to unlock their potential and become champions of life. A strong partnership with the charity Beyond Sport looks set to enable this commitment to flourish as Beyond Sport are focused on using sport for social change and connecting NGOs and community organisations with groups who can help them make a difference.
The Beyond Sport Foundation is a unique registered charity and together with their expert partners they support inspirational people and projects that are using sport to make a resounding and powerful impact in some of the most disadvantaged and excluded populations from around the world which includes working to build safe play places in communities. In London Connor Sport and Gerflor have worked with Beyond Sport and the Mayor’s Office to identify applicants for a ‘Court Award’. This meant seeking a community group who had a need for an updated space, but also who would require the programming and student engagement necessary to properly use the product. The award went to the Phoenix Community Housing project which falls under the responsibility of Lewisham Council in inner London.
Nick Keller, Founder and CEO, Beyond Sport commented, “London has many great organisations using sport to address key issues in communities who need safe places to deliver programming, and our partnership with Sport Court made this happen in an area that needs it most”. He went on to add, “as a global organisation that holds events and supports projects in cities around the world, we have been honoured to work with Sport Court to ensure that the communities where we work have a sustainable legacy through sport. From Johannesburg to Philadelphia to Kigoma, we have partnered with Sport Court for eight years, providing safe spaces for young people to play all over the globe.”
The project is an outdoor community court that will be designed and built by the students on an existing concrete or asphalt court that is in desperate need of an upgrade. The court will be constructed out of Sport Court PowerGame® tiles and due to be completed this Spring. More athletic events are played on Connor Sport Court surfaces than on any other sports flooring in the world. Sport Court® is a registered trade mark of Connor Sport Court International and is used to identify the original and authentic modular sport surfaces developed and continuously improved since they were introduced in 1974.