Providing excellent sports facilities for students helps to encourage children to engage in regular physical activity, ensuring all students can reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
At both primary and secondary levels, as well as in preschools and tertiary education precincts, synthetic turf sports fields provide spaces that are functional, practical and safe all year round. No matter the weather, synthetic sports fields provide increased usability compared to natural grass fields and ovals which can be heavily impacted by wet weather.
The secret to ensuring a practical, hard-wearing and durable synthetic field is to select the right type of turf for the application, and of course, ensure it is installed to a high standard. Minimal ongoing maintenance is required – much less than natural turf – and a professional installation can last for many years, making the capital investment worth it in the long run.
Below are some recommendations on varieties of synthetic turf to suit the most common school sports played across Sydney.
Soccer-specific synthetic turf is widely used for football pitches, training areas and futsal centres due to its reliable, predictable ball performance. Designed for the rigorous needs of football, our 40mm Allsports Soccer synthetic turf features high-tech multi-fibre technology that gives a realistic appearance all year round and excellent wear resistance.
Offering brilliant performance in both indoor and outdoor applications, synthetic soccer grass eliminates the need to cancel games due to muddy, unusable grass pitches or rock-hard dusty grounds that have been baked in the summer sun. Trying to manage the ongoing needs of natural turf fields can be an expensive undertaking for schools, which is why so many are opting for ultra-low maintenance synthetic turf playing fields.
For next-level football facilities, our soccer turf also comes in a FIFA-approved variant with 50mm long fibres and superior ball control. When installed in conjunction with the full FIFA Accredited System it delivers an incredibly high-performance gameplay experience for students.
Cricket is one of the sports that is most deeply steeped in tradition, yet synthetic turf has certainly earned its place in school cricket. Cricket pitches need to offer flat, predictable ball-bounce characteristics, and our 9mm cricket grass can deliver true precision for all levels of matches.
Specially designed for cricket pitches, this turf is extremely high-density with wear-resistant properties that make it ideal for heavy-duty school use. Professionally installed with a high-quality drainage-friendly backing, it outperforms natural wickets in unpredictable weather conditions and provides a cost-effective low-maintenance surface that is always ready for students to practise their bowling and batting skills.
Many schools don’t have the luxury of limitless playground space, so they need to be creative when planning out where to locate their sports courts and how to mark them.
This is why synthetic multi-sport courts have exploded in popularity in recent years: they offer a compact and cost-effective playing environment that can be utilised for basketball, netball, hockey, mini-football, volleyball and more, all in one space.
Through the use of clever line marking and different colour combinations to demarcate different goal and court zones, a single space can be used for many different sports. The all-weather surface of our 18mm Multisports Grass has a durable medium height pile and comes in vibrant colours suitable for medium to high-traffic areas.
For schools fielding a wide range of sports teams across different codes, multisports courts provide a low-maintenance solution for training and competition.
Hockey is a fast-paced game that requires a precision playing surface. Synthetic turf hockey fields help students to practise their skills and reaction time on a competition-standard pitch.
Allowing the ball to move fast and straight, and the stick to travel without impediment, our 18mm high hockey turf falls within the guidelines of the International Hockey Federation.
Many of our recent educational projects have featured the inclusion of an athletics track around the perimeter of a different playing field or surface. Adding a synthetic turf running track to the edge of a new soccer pitch, for example, is often a creative use of playground space that extends the use of your facilities to different sports.
Athletics tracks can be standalone features or wrap around the edge of a field, with permanent lane markings and different coloured surfaces. In this project for King Park Public School, we wrapped a futsal field with a red running track using our 19mm multisports turf, whereas Burraneer Bay Public School opted for a white running track to complement their large multi-use green space.
Preferred Turf is one of Sydney’s premier synthetic turf suppliers and installers, specialising in the education sector. No matter what sports you offer at your school or what kind of facilities you envision for your students, we can offer professional advice on synthetic turf selection, installation and maintenance.
