Hey, it’s Friday and what am I thinking about? Going to the Stanford football game tomorrow night! Boy, the PAC 12 is just loaded with great teams this year so it should be exciting. But that means I’m looking around to see what new standards have just been released that involve sports and I’ve lucked out! There’s 5 new European standards all focused on the surfaces for sports areas. OK, in Europe football isn’t the same as it is here, but you can bet these standards will still impact the development and sale of synthetic turfs for sports applications around the world.
Without further ado, here are the 5 new standards on surfaces for sports fields:
1) BS EN 12228, 2013 Edition, “Surfaces for sports areas. Determination of joint strength of synthetic surfaces”
This European Standard specifies two test methods for the determination of joint strength of synthetic sports surfaces like synthetic turf. Method 1 describes a procedure to apply direct force to butt joints and overlapped adhesive joints. Method 2 describes a procedure to apply peel force to reinforced butt joints.
2) BS EN 12234, 2013 Edition, “Surfaces for sports areas. Determination of ball roll behaviour”
Not surprisingly, this European Standard specifies a method for determining the rolling behavior of a ball on a sports surface. This is the first revision since 2002. And yes, the spelling of behavior in the title is the British English format since it’s a European, not American, standard…
3) BS EN 12235, 2013 Edition, “Surfaces for sports areas. Determination of vertical ball behaviour”
Last revised in 2004, this European Standard specifies a test method for determining the rebound height of a ball from a surface when it’s dropped vertically.
4) BS EN 12616, 2013 Edition, “Surfaces for sports areas. Determination of water infiltration rate”
The last issue of this standard was in 2003. Laboratory tests are considered to give a more precise indication of surface performance for filled synthetic turf and unbound mineral surfaces. So this European Standard specifies three methods for the determination of water infiltration rate.
- Method A is used for synthetic, textile, synthetic turf and bound mineral sports surfaces,
- Method B is used for natural turf, and
- Method C is used for unbound mineral sports surfaces.
5) BS EN 15330-1, 2013 Edition, “Surfaces for sports areas. Synthetic turf and needle-punched surfaces primarily designed for outdoor use. Specification for synthetic turf surfaces for football, hockey, rugby union training, tennis and multi-sports use”
This European Standard specifies performance, durability, product identification and facility testing requirements for synthetic turf sports surfaces used mostly for outdoor sports. This Part 1 of the 2 Part set describes the requirements for testing of products in the laboratory. They must provide required levels of sports performance and player/surface interaction depending on how they’re going to be used. And they must be manufactured from materials of acceptable quality. It is the first revision of the standard since 2007.
My son played football in high school (Serra High School, the alma mater of Tom Brady, Lynn Swann, and of course Barry Bonds). It was just around the time that the installation of synthetic turf fields became all the rage in high school “stadiums.” So we became very aware of the pros and cons of playing a high contact sport on these types of surfaces.
There’s no doubt that as time passes, the requirements for these surfaces will change to improve the safety, performance, and cost of these products. However, as you can see by the wide variety of sports that are impacted by these standards (listed in the title of item 5, BS EN 15330-1), the applications are growing. This means that the technology is able to provide a suitable playing surface that can compete with good old-fashioned turf!
If you need standards to support the safe development of sports products and environments, or on any other topic, my company Document Center Inc. is the organization you need to use. We not only sell standards, but offer support services and unique information on the standards you require. Make us your Standards Experts!
And what else is left to say? Just “Go Stanford!”
