Choosing The Right Fencing

Protect it and perfect it: choosing the right fencing for your sports pitch construction

The advent of modern artificial sports pitches and state of the art venue advances has created new and exciting opportunities for British sport – never so ripe as with London 2012 around the corner. Whether you’re building a brand new tennis court, installing a multi-user games area for your school or college, or investing in a full scale sports pitch construction, it’s important to think about the safety of your spectators, players and venue equipment alike. Taking the time to match your sports fencing to your facility and its users will reap dividends in terms of security, long term maintenance, and even your insurance premiums.

What criteria should I use to select my ideal sports fence?

Sports fences might appear relatively similar – but models vary considerably according to the application. Select a sports fence that adapts to the needs of your venue. Tennis court fencing, for example, is a fairly simple construction that will protect an indoor tennis court design more than adequately. But if you are constructing a professional level synthetic football pitch as part of a new stadium, the demands on your sports fencing are more complex. At the planning stages you should consider the necessary strength of the sports fence to protect spectators from ball impact, ensure visibility levels, provide sufficient gateway access, and adapt to the specific needs of your venue. If your sports pitch construction will be externally accessible you should pay attention to vandalism resistance. Finally, don’t forget that commercial facilities can benefit from sports fences with visual display options – allowing you to profit from valuable advertising revenue.

What sports fence systems are available to me?

Once you have decided on the basic sports ground fence you need you can explore a multitude of  cost-effective options to protect your sports pitch construction, MUGA or artificial grass pitch.  A  strong and cost-effective option for new tennis courts is the chainlink fence. This system provides all the longevity you need and completely encloses the tennis court for ball retention. If, however, you are building an exterior tennis court or any kind of outdoor sports pitch it’s well worth a modest upgrade to the weldmesh system. Aesthetically pleasing  and adaptable, weldmesh provides a high level of visibility for spectators. It’s real feature though is it’s welded strength that renders it highly resistant to vandalism – an important consideration for all outdoors sports venues.

Schools and clubs with limited space are increasingly turning to multi use games areas to achieve maximum sporting benefit in a cost and space-effective way. PA sports fence systems are incredibly well adapted to this setting. Their blend of long term durability, cost effective maintenance and excellent value for money make them the perfect complement for public sector and school users in particular.

At the other end of the scale, for an ambitious sports pitch construction such as a commercial athletics track the king of sports fencing is the Dulokrange. Extremely hard wearing, this is a highly  versatile system that can be custom designed to fit the bespoke needs of your facility. Dulok systems are panel based and can be adapted to accommodate gates and entrances, goal recesses, ball catch netting and timber kick boards. In addition they are designed to minimise injury and can be fully customised to your brand with laser cut motifs throughout your sports pitch.

Commercial facilities are primed to generate income through advertising, so don’t forget to explore the potential of rebound boards when choosing your sports fencing. Panel slot systems can be  adorned with any digital image and these days can be swapped without screwing and bolting, allowing you to mix and match your advertising with ease. This can be a vital source of revenue for a commercial sports pitch construction – so it’s well worth considering in the planning stages.

As with every aspect of sports pitch construction careful consideration at the planning stages will ensure that your sports ground fence performs for you for many years to come. Another vital element to consider is the correct choice of sports pitch to suit your players perfectly. Explore the key features of different sports pitches here. Then contact us for friendly help and advice and start planning your sports pitch construction today!