ANDOVER, Mass.- From the Olympics to essentially the most prestigious international tournaments in tennis, observe and discipline, and pickleball, California Sports activities Surfaces has spent 70 years delivering progressive, high-performance sports activities surfaces that each one gamers—from on a regular basis amateurs to the world-class professionals—can depend on.
2023 marks the seventieth anniversary for California Sports activities Surfaces, an ICP Group Model, which has constructed its identify on delivering steady innovation to {the marketplace}. From the groundbreaking Plexipave®, the trade chief of athletic surfacing techniques since 1953; to Plexitrac®, a sophisticated observe floor offering runners with the very best ranges of security and efficiency for 40 years; to brand-new improvements like CoolTop® Shade Pigment Know-how, which helps to cut back on-court temperatures, California Sports activities Surfaces has remained on the forefront of innovation from day one.
“This can be a particular anniversary for our firm and our model,” stated Tom Magner, Director of Product Administration, California Sports activities Surfaces. “None of it will be doable with out our prospects. Together with bringing steady innovation to {the marketplace}, now we have at all times been pushed by relationships—and people have enabled us to develop and proceed delivering high-performance sports activities surfaces around the globe.”
The corporate’s roots lengthen from 1926, when the California Stucco Firm, based mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was shaped. Into the Nineteen Forties, the corporate started to separate into totally different market segments, and in 1953, California Sports activities Surfaces and its first product—Plexipave—have been born.
“Plexipave was developed as a result of the corporate founders recognized a necessity within the shifting tennis market,” Magner stated. “Grass and clay had extensively been used for tennis courts previous to 1946, however there was a gradual shift towards asphalt and concrete surfaces that wanted to be coated.”
Thus, California Sports activities Surfaces grew to become the primary firm to develop floor options particularly tailor-made to the wants of tennis—the place coatings utility grew more and more necessary—and grew exponentially from there. California Sports activities Surfaces’ portfolio grew to incorporate options for basketball, curler sports activities, observe, cricket, netball, pickleball and extra.
“I first started making use of Plexipave in 1982, and in my profession as an applicator, I’ve tried almost each out there surfacing resolution and nothing has ever been comparable,” stated Jim Bittner, Supervisor of Sports activities Division, Arrow Concrete & Asphalt Specialties, based mostly in Washington. “My 40 years of expertise has at all times led me to Plexipave—solely.”
In 1997, California Sports activities Surfaces acquired Decoturf®, an progressive, multilayered system appropriate to be used in indoor and out of doors functions. It may be formulated to fulfill the necessities of gamers at any stage, making a state-of-the-art floor that may be trusted for secure and cozy gameplay. The acquisition made California Sports activities Surfaces the biggest producer of sports activities surfaces on this planet, exporting to greater than 50 nations.
“My expertise with California Sports activities Surfaces goes again to 1994, when my firm was approached by the Garden Tennis Affiliation of Thailand for a high quality tennis floor for his or her Nationwide Coaching Middle in Bangkok,” stated Patrick Dean, Government Director, SEARA Sports activities Programs. “Now we have grown our firm enterprise with Plexipave merchandise in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and the Maldives. We might not have been in a position to obtain that form of progress with out the skilled experience and high quality of California Sports activities Surfaces’ merchandise. They’ve at all times had an answer for fixing virtually any floor downside that now we have come up in opposition to.”
California Sports activities Surfaces’ whole dedication to the trade is additional evidenced by its involvement within the founding of what’s now the American Sports activities Builders Affiliation (ASBA), a nonprofit commerce affiliation comprising builders, designers and suppliers for sports activities services, that exists to advertise the very best requirements of design, development and upkeep.
The world’s greatest athletes could change from 12 months to 12 months, however there’s one factor constant in regards to the prime sports activities occasions on this planet: California Sports activities Surfaces.
Each U.S. Open between 1978 and 2019 was performed on DecoTurf®, and each Australian Open has had Rebound Ace® courts since 1988 and Plexipave® between 2008 and 2018. Plexipave has been the selection for the BNP Paribas Open’s floor—on the iconic Indian Wells Tennis Backyard—for almost 25 years and counting. DecoTurf was chosen because the tennis courtroom floor for the 2020 Olympic Video games in Tokyo, marking the sixth time a model from California Sports activities Surfaces’ portfolio has been chosen to be used within the Olympic and Paralympic Video games.
“These are among the highest-stakes competitions on this planet, with the destiny of the world’s prime athletes on the road,” stated Magner. “That’s one thing we don’t take evenly. Now we have lengthy been dedicated to high quality, to reliability, and to delivering the world’s greatest enjoying surfaces—and these top-level tournaments and occasions proceed to hunt us out as companions many times.”
California Sports activities Surfaces was based upon groundbreaking innovation—and that continues right now.
“We’re at all times wanting ahead to be able to anticipate the wants of tomorrow’s athletes,” Magner stated. “And since California Sports activities Surfaces is a part of the ICP Group, we’re backed by an especially robust pedigree of chemical substances and coatings experience. Drawing from that experience, we’re excited to proceed bringing new and thrilling options to {the marketplace}.”
CoolTop® is a direct results of the model’s progressive mindset. In comparison with normal out of doors courtroom surfaces, the product affords a brand new vary of vibrant topcoat colours that cut back acrylic floor courtroom temperatures by way of photo voltaic reflectance. This helps to maintain gamers engaged in sports activities and social exercise longer, whereas minimizing heat-related influence.
“We’re enthusiastic about what we’re bringing to the market with CoolTop, and so are our prospects,” stated Magner. “Sustaining comfy temperatures for athletes is more and more necessary. CoolTop is a superb instance of how we’ve by no means stopped pushing the envelope—and we’re going to maintain doing it for years to return.”
