The winter sports seasons can take a toll on your school’s athletic facilities. Between basketball practices for both the girls and boys teams, wrestling practices, and at times, the first few practices for spring sports like track and baseball, your facilities will get a lot of use during the cold winter months. While all of your products are designed to withstand the rigors of everyday use, sometimes a freak collision or simply age can cause your facility’s amenities to wear out. For these reasons and many more, it is important you assess your athletic facility’s padding solutions to determine if they need to be replaced or repaired. Here, our design and safety experts at Fieldwallpads.com will discuss some things to consider, so you can ensure your facilities look great year-round while providing the highest possible safety for your athletes, fans, and coaches.
LOOK FOR DAMAGES
While damage to your wall pads can be difficult to see if it is not obvious, you should still maintain a regular schedule of when to check your products. You should check them after every competition or major event to ensure there is no evident damage to your wall padding or other products. If there is unseen damage, it puts your athletes at greater risk for injury.
After a particularly hard collision, with the wall pads or padding that is on your bleachers, stage, columns, poles, or another area, there is a chance that it could be dislodged from the surface it is attached to, or it could be loosened by the force of the collision. However, if you do not check the attachment after a hard collision or a game in general, you may not notice that the surface is loose.
By carefully inspecting your padding after every major event, you can ensure that your athletes can compete without fear of harm. After the season, you should complete a thorough inspection of all your wall pads to look for both obvious and non-obvious signs of damage. Obvious signs could be anything from holes in the surface to the pad being detached from the wall. If you see any signs of damage, you should contact our team immediately so we can provide you with the repairs or new products you need to have a safe playing facility.
FOLLOW MANUFACTURERS GUIDELINES
Your pads will also be directly affected by any specific guidelines the manufacturers have listed because this can help ensure greater longevity in the product. Guidelines can include specifications around maintenance, assembly, and care. And if your pads need to be stored at the end of each season, the recommendations can help you understand how to correctly put them away to ensure that they will still be functional for the next season.
KEEP THEM CLEAN
Your winter sports season is busy, and because your protective padding is a crucial feature of your gymnasium and athletic fields, staying on top of regular cleanings is a priority. Particulates and debris can build up quickly, leading to a breakdown of the fibers and a potential void on any warranties if left unchecked. Cleaning the pads is a simple process can be done in a few steps, including:
● Start with a sponge and hot water to clean basic spots or stains.
● For more challenging spots, try hot water with mild dish soap.
● Use a cleaner that has mold and mildew remover for outdoor pads or stubborn stains.
● Once this is completed, wipe the pads with clean water to remove soap or product residue.
● Avoid any products with acetone, bleach, brand-name cleaners like Clorox, and anything with gritty, scouring, or pumice-style surfaces.
Additionally, always use gentle brushes, sponges, cleaners, and cleaning motions because this can help reduce the risk of damaging the material.
PLAN ACCORDINGLY
If you live somewhere with a fluctuating climate, like Minnesota, you need to be prepared to assess your gym or other athletic facility and make the necessary repairs or replacements immediately. Practices for spring sports, like track and field, baseball, and softball, begin not long after the winter sports seasons.
However, with the wild weather many parts of the country have during the spring, it can be difficult to practice outdoors consistently. For that reason, you need to make the necessary adjustments and repairs to your gym wall pads after the winter sports seasons immediately, so when other teams inevitably have to use those facilities, they are safe.
CONTACT FIELDWALLPADS.COM TODAY
For over 30 years, we have been providing the highest-quality safety and design products to athletic teams and organizations across the country. Our affordable, renowned products are proven to last for years and are handmade in one location in our Iowa headquarters. To learn more about our products and how we can help you, give us a call at 800-257-6405 or message us on our contact page today.