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KENT UNIVERSITY’S NEW COURT HAS STAR APPEAL TVS GROUP INSTALLS UK’S FIRST ROBBINS ANCHORED TIMBER FLOATING FLOOR Author and photos
TVS Group, Haslingden, Lancashire, UK. www.tvs-group.co.uk
Students at the University of Kent can now practice and play on one of the world’s finest basketball courts – just like the stars of America’s hugely popular NBA League. Lesson learned! Kent is the first university in the UK to have a MFMA PUR-certified and EN14904-compliant Robbins Sports Surfaces solid maple wood floor. UK-based partner TVS Group took care of the installation. Robbins Sports Surfaces is well known across North America. Founded in 1894, it is a preferred supplier of competition and training surfaces to a significant number of leading teams in the billion-dollar National Basketball Association (NBA). Of the last 27 NBA Championships contested, 22 were won by teams who play and / or train on Robbins Sports Surfaces courts. The TVS Group / Robbins partnership was chosen after an exhaustive evaluation by the University of Kent with quality, longevity and performance being major factors in the final decision along with the need to meet stringent international and UK sports standards. For example, the new 62
Robbins court in Canterbury is expected to last between 50-75 years! The long-term benefits also include the active reduction of injuries and player fatigue through the Robbins maximum vibration protection (MVP) patented system. “After around two decades of use as a multi-sport facility, the university’s old court was badly in need of an upgrade,” explained TVS’ sports surfacing specialist Jason Lewis-Lamb. “A survey revealed significant issues with the sub-floor which had caused failures in the existing floor and needed to be rectified.” Maple wood flooring from sustainable sources Before installation work could commence TVS Group had to remove the well-worn sprung parquet timber floor which was showing significant cracking and movement. sb 1/2022