The largest of its kind in North America, the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, opened its doors to the public last fall revealing its extensive capabilities in recreational and competitive sports. Situated on the University of Alberta campus, the facility has more than 220,000 square feet of space, including more than 130,000 square feet of Robbins maple sports flooring.
The collaborative effort to build the Centre provides the city of Edmonton, local sports organizations and residents with an extensive variety of programs and activities. The Centre partnership organizations include: the Edmonton Grads Basketball Centre, Ortona Gymnastics Club, Edmonton Volleyball Centre Society and the University of Alberta.
The Centre is also home to the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas Men’s and Women’s volleyball and basketball teams respectively, as well as Team Ortona’s competitive Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline and Tumbling teams. When asked about the quality of the new floors and the effects it has had on player performance, Scott Edwards, Head Coach for the University of Alberta women’s basketball team, said “I think our playing surface is by far the best we have seen. The quality of the floor has made a dramatic impact on our athletes’ health. We have had fewer instances of shin splints and the athletes love running on this surface. They love playing on it“.
Centaur Products, one of Robbins exclusive dealers in Canada, played an integral part in the construction of the facility by installing over 130,000 sq ft. of Robbins Bio-Channel® Classic hardwood flooring which consisted of 9 NBA-sized basketball courts and 9 full-size volleyball courts. In addition, Centaur also installed Sportwood® Ultra Star in the dance studio, and Pulastic® in the child’s play area.
Doug Haines, Project Manager at Clark Builders, was in charge of overseeing this massive construction project. Clark Builders had worked with Centaur Products on previous projects, and as Haines explains, Centaur and Robbins was chosen for this project for very specific reasons – “Centaur management staff appeared to be very knowledgeable with the Bio-Channel flooring system, their on-site supervision was very ”hands on”. Robbins was chosen for the project because they are considered a leader in the sports flooring market, specifically the hardwood floor segment and the Bio-Channel floor system. Centaur was chosen based on their local workforce as well as their previous and ongoing relationship with the University of Alberta“.
In addition to volleyball, basketball and gymnastics, the Centre was able to expand their offerings to other sports programs such as badminton, futsal, dance and martial arts. Community support has been phenomenal and exceeded the Centre’s expectations. Bob Butlin, Saville Community Sports Centre Board Representative explains “Our Community response has been unbelievable from the start. Our bookings for court space are exceeding our expectations after only six months of full operation. We have seen an expansion in our basketball programs with the creation of new Spring and Summer leagues. The public response to the facility is in direct relation to the world class hardwood floors which are showcased in each and every gym. The community-at-large speaks very highly of the hardwood floors and in particular, they are not experiencing any fatigue in their legs after playing, no dead spots. It is not uncommon to hear them say that “these are the best hardwood floors we have ever played on and we should have built the facility ten years ago”. This facility simply brings our court sports – basketball & volleyball together from the youth age to University level“.
The Saville Community Sports Centre is truly a magnificent building for recreational and competitive sports. Aside from its massive size and range of activities, it brings athletes of all levels and ages together under one roof. From University programs to Junior leagues, the Saville Community Sports Centre will promote and support physical activity among the citizens of Edmonton for many generations to come.
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Centaur Products is Robbins’ exclusive dealer in Alberta and surrounding provinces. For more information please visit http://centaurproducts.com/ or call them at 1-888-430-3300.
Robbins, Inc. is the premier supplier of high performance maple and synthetic sports flooring systems to the arena, education, religious and fitness markets. In more than 65 nations around the world athletes compete and practice on millions of square meters of Robbins’ Sport Surfaces. Professional and amateur alike know that when they play on a high performance Robbins’ system they’ll be able to play at peak levels, safely and comfortably.
For more information about Robbins sports flooring systems, please call Robbins Sports Surfaces at 1-800-543-1913, email us at [email protected], or visit http://www.robbinsfloor.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ken Thomas
VP of Marketing
Robbins Sports Surfaces
(513) 871-8988
win over the Spurs. James also earned the coveted regular season MVP and the Finals MVP for the 2nd year in a row, becoming just the third player to win the regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season multiple times. Only Michael Jordan and Larry Bird had accomplished that until this year. Not bad for a guy who has played his entire professional career on a Robbins court.
